Soldiers are accused of killing a community housewife and a volunteer from the neighborhood vigilante watch in Eke Community, Udi Local Government Area, Enugu State.
Mr. Emeka Anigbo, Assistant Chief Security Officer of Eke Security Neighbourhood Vigilante Watch, who is still in pain from a gunshot wound, described what happened on Sunday. He claimed they were at 9th Mile Corner on Thursday night when they received a distress call.
Anigbo reported that the caller claimed that armed robbers had blocked the main route leading from Ama Breweries to the well-known Catholic Church Prayer Center (Ugwudinso) and Eke.
On hearing the distress call, he said, “we hurriedly went out with the intention of confronting the criminal elements, but because to significant traffic jam produced by the closure of the road, they could not reach to the spot with their car.
He claimed that after deciding to leave their car parked along the road and beginning to walk towards the location, the vigilante group came across three armed soldiers who told them to stop.
“We followed the troops’ orders and introduced ourselves as vigilante watch guards for the neighborhood. The soldiers urged us to continue arriving.
“As the soldiers drew closer, they began firing at us, killing one of us as well as a woman who was returning to the Eke settlement on a motorcycle with her husband.
“Even though we had identified ourselves and were wearing our full security uniforms, the trigger-happy soldiers opened fire on us at close range, killing Oke and the woman.
Anigbo claimed that despite seeing his identification card and uniform, one of the soldiers continued to fire him in the shoulder after shooting him multiple times while he was on the ground.
Anigbo claimed that the police officers from the 9th Mile Corner Division arrived just in time to spare his life. He also claimed that it was the police who stopped the military and verified that we were Eke Neighborhood Security Guards.
He claimed that the soldiers also opened fire on three additional local security personnel at close range, injuring them in varying degrees, including one whose penis was entirely smashed.
He said it was regrettable that Mr. Ebuka Oke, who was shot during the soldiers’ savage onslaught, lost his father precisely one month to the day he was slain.
Intense pain prevented Chinedu Okolo from speaking, despite attempts to do so. At the same time, the third victim, Obinna Offor, was experiencing horrific sensations in a hospital’s intensive care unit while receiving oxygen assistance.
Under the condition of anonymity, some Eke village residents criticized the soldiers’ improper behavior, calling it “barbaric and callous,” and demanded an impartial investigation.
When reached, Lt. Col. Jonah Unuakhalu, the Deputy Director of Army Public Relations for the 82nd Division of the Nigerian Army, referred to the community’s and its vigilante arm’s claims as inaccurate.
According to Unuakhalu, the deceased woman was murdered by a stray bullet from armed thugs who engaged the soldiers in a shootout, according to the information at the Division’s disposal.
He claimed that after receiving a distress call about some criminal activity on the Eke road, the troops went to the area. When the thugs saw the soldiers, they opened fire on them.
He said that after some of them fled into a nearby thicket, the soldiers overwhelmed them, resulting in the arrest of one of them and the recovery of two pump action rifles and some live ammunition.
The spokesman for the Division stated that he was unaware of any details regarding the claimed second victim (the guy).
The deceased housewife was struck by a stray bullet during the troop and criminals’ exchange of gunfire, the speaker continued, and she was taken to the hospital but “unfortunately, later died.”
Therefore, the rumor that troops were responsible for the deceased’s (female) death is false in every way. Only after getting a distress call, our personnel arrived on the site to try to salvage the situation, he insisted.
He said it was regrettable that the woman passed away because, had she lived, she would have been in a better position to describe what had transpired.
He declared, “The Division is going to conduct a proper investigation on the incident in order to ascertain what actually happened.”
The immediate prior Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, as well as the Director General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), Mr. Osita Okechukwu, all hail from the Eke community. (NAN)
