Niger Delta
Hoodlums strike in Delta community by Our Correspondent
•••Kill 18-yr-old boy, kidnap two others, injure many
TRACKING_____Barely four months after suspected herdsmen attacked pupils and teachers at Issele Azagba Community, Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State, armed hoodlums, on Thursday, invaded the community, killing 18-year-old boy, and abducted two others, while many others were injured in the meele.
Besides, a middle aged man identified as Peter Egbushe, who was among those injured at the scene, is currently being treated at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Asaba and the corpse of the boy deposited at the hospital’s mortuary.
Police will sustain nationwide operation against bandits – DIG
Sources said that the attackers first confronted and shot dead one Ifeanyi who was returning from a Metal Factory and injured two others at Ogbeakpu quarters, Issele Azagba before advancing to Abualo quarters where they abducted an 11-year-old girl and one Engineer Sabastine during nightfall.
Speaking to journalists in the community, Benjamin Thomas, an elder in the community, said: “We had same experience last year October when Fulani hersdmen invaded our secondary school, killing three people and abducted three people”.
He added that one Ifeanyi Chukwu who was among those killed in October 2019 by Fulani hersdmen was a cousin to the victim shot dead in the latest attack.
Also, Secretary to the Palace of Issele Azagba Community, Mr. Louis Ndoh, who spoke to journalists in the area on behalf of the traditional ruler, HRM Obi Francis Ijeh, said they received a distress call that suspected Fulani hersdmen were attacking the people as part of reprisal assult, adding that they had held a small girl an Engineer hostage in the bush.
He disclosed that they immediately alerted the Vigilante and the Police in the area who swung into action to search for the kidnapped victims in the bush.
Meanwhile, students of Azagba Mixed Secondary School and Great Favour Group of Schools have protested the incident and expressed their dissatisfaction over the incessant attacks by suspected herdsmen on their schools, and however called on the Police to redouble its efforts with a view to bringing those responsible for the nefarious activities to arrest.
But Police Commissioner in the state, Hafiz Mohammed Inuwah, who confirmed the incident, said that the Police were on the trail of the attackers, adding that one person had been arrested and detained at the Police headquarters in Asaba.
He disclosed that it was an attempt to escape the Police that the hoodlums shot dead the 18- year old boy in the process.