Tears flowed freely late Thursday following the brutal
killing of a female student of St Paul’s College, Eke, in Udi Local Government
Area of Enugu State.
It was reliably gathered that the student was shot dead by
kidnappers suspected to be Fulani herdsmen.
A resident, who reached out to our correspondent late
Thursday night, said other students equally hit by bullets are battling for
survival in an undisclosed hospital.
A gruesome video displaying the lifeless body of the victim,
as well as some of the survivors of the attack is currently in circulation.
A voice in the video narrated thus: “Fulani herdsmen
attacked our students, they were going home after school; one of them was shot
dead; four students were shot, one died instantly; they have done enough.
“See the corpse of the little student they have murdered;
this one is unconscious, (pointing at another victim) we are praying that God
will sustain her; she sustained four bullet wounds.
“This was done by the Fulanis operating at Eke-Egede Road;
these are the ones that survived; the government should come to our rescue. Our
place is now a death zone.”
The Principal of the Catholic Church-owned school, Rev. Fr.
Frank also confirmed the attack.
“It is true; we dismissed by 3:30 pm yesterday, as the
students were going home, the bus they were in was attacked by gunmen; some of
them received bullet wounds, of which one later died in the hospital;
“That was between 4:30-5 pm; the gunmen just opened fire on
them.”
“We feel so saddened to lose such a promising young girl in
this circumstance.”
Meanwhile, other community sources disclosed that the area
had been a den of kidnappers for years with security agencies unable to stop
the activities of the ravaging herdsmen.
A community leader, who spoke under anonymity, said many
victims of kidnap in Udi and Ezeagu areas are kept within the same location
until ransom is paid.
He said those who could not meet up with the ransom demand
were usually killed after a few days.
He said the forest spanning about 15 kilometres, called
‘Ofia-akwu’, had remained a death zone, with several lives lost in the past in
the hands of the Fulani herdsmen who were into kidnapping.
“The security agencies know that they have been occupying
that location for several years now, committing all manner of crimes.
“We don’t know why it is difficult to flush them out from
that location.
“Many lives have been lost to their murderous activities on
that Eke-Egede Road,” he lamented.
Similarly, a famous traditional ruler was also reportedly
abducted by the same gang after the attack on the school bus.
A message made available said the monarch from Affa “was
kidnapped along Eke-Egede-Affa Road after a security meeting with chairman of
Udi Local Government and men of our high profile neighbourhood watch.”
“We pray for his safe rescue and return in Jesus name. Oh!
God, our efforts shall not be in vain,” said Offorkansi Hyginus, PRO, Affa
security committee.
Meanwhile, attempts to obtain a reaction from the Police
Public Relations Officer, Enugu State Command, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, but he
requested that a text message be sent to him.
He was yet to respond to the message as of the time of
filing this report.
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