After the alleged murder of a local housewife and a volunteer member of the neighbourhood watch organisation by soldiers from the 82 Division of the Nigerian Army Enugu, tension has descended upon the Eke Village in Enugu State.
The victims were in serious condition in their hospital beds, experiencing excruciating agony, when reporters from the news media visited the community and hospital yesterday (names omitted for security reasons).
The locals, who had heard gruesome stories of herders/farmers clashing, were reportedly so terrified of the nasty development that they stopped coming to their fields.
According to reports, the Army also shot three additional local security personnel at close range, injuring them in varying degrees, including one whose penis was destroyed.
The Director General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), Mr Osita Okechukwu, the recently concluded 2023 general election candidate for the Udi North state constituency, Mr Geoffery Onyeama, and the Chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Barrister Godwin Onwusi, all hail from the community, according to our correspondent.
According to reports, Mr Ebuka Oke, who was shot dead during the brutal assault by the Military, had lost his father precisely one month earlier on the day of his death.
Mr. Emeka Anigbo, the Assistant Chief Security Officer of Eke Security Neighbourhood Vigilante Watch and one of the victims who had several gunshot wounds to his body, was able to describe what happened to reporters while lying in his hospital bed.
The popular Catholic Church Prayer Center (Ugwudinso) and Eke, from Ama breweries, were reached by a major road blocked by armed robbers on Thursday night, according to Anigbo, who was in excruciating pain. They had gone there to celebrate with their colleagues who were being inaugurated as neighbourhood watch members.
When they got the call, he claims, they gave up the food and beverages they were going to have and quickly left to face the criminal elements. But, they were unable to get to the area in their car owing to the bottleneck caused by the road being blocked off by heavy traffic.
He said that after deciding to stop their car along the road, they began to walk towards the location. When they got closer, they saw three armed soldiers who shouted at them to halt.
According to Anigbo, they heeded the Army’s orders to halt and identified themselves as neighbourhood watchmen. The Military then requested that they continue to arrive at that place.
They began fire at the troops as soon as they got close to where they were standing, killing one of their members and the wife of one who had been inaugurated at 9th Mile when she and her husband were riding a motorbike back to Eke.
The trigger-happy troops opened fire at close range when we were wearing our full security uniforms and identifying ourselves, killing the lady and the late Oke.
“After shooting me many times while I was on the ground, one of the Soldiers still went ahead and shot me in the shoulder despite seeing my ID card and my uniform.” Anigbo responded while sobbing.
Anigbo said, “The same soldier kept matching me on the chest and threatening that I would murder you today. My life was spared by the police officers’ prompt arrival from the 9th-mile corner. The Military was halted by the police, who also attested to our status as Eke neighbourhood security officers.
Intense agony prevented Chinedu Okolo from speaking to reporters, while the third victim, Obinna Offor, was also spotted suffering painful pains while receiving oxygen assistance in the critical care unit. The soldiers’ bullets (ICU) had broken both victims’ manhoods.
Other Eke Village residents, who sought anonymity while speaking with news reporters out of concern for their safety, strongly denounced the Soldiers’ unprofessional behaviour, calling it savage and brutal, and demanded an impartial investigation.
When reached, Lieutenant Colonel Jonah Unuakhalu, the 82 Division Nigerian Army’s Deputy Director of Army Public Relations, referred to the victims’ story as being untrue and claimed that, according to the information at the Division’s disposal, the deceased woman was killed by an unknown bullet fired by armed thugs who engaged the Soldiers in a shootout.
He claimed that the troops rushed to the scene after receiving a distress call about some criminal activity along the Eke road. When the hoodlums saw the soldiers, they opened fire, but the security personnel overpowered them, resulting in the arrest of one of them and the recovery of two pump action guns and some live ammunition after some of the hoodlums fled into a nearby bush.
A weird bullet struck the dead housewife during the troop and hoodlums’ exchange of fire, according to the 82 Division Spokesperson, who added that he had no information about the second deceased. The housewife was taken to the hospital but sadly passed away later.
So, there is not a shred of truth in the rumour that soldiers slew the deceased. He said only after getting a distress call did our troops hurry to the location to try to save the situation.
The Division will conduct a thorough investigation into the event in order to determine what truly occurred. “It’s terrible that the lady passed away; if not, she would have been in the ideal position to tell precisely what happened, ” the Division said.
To uphold the rule of law, a community native who does not want his name published has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to appoint a panel of inquiry to conduct a thorough investigation into the unfortunate incident, prosecute the soldiers, and subject the bullet shells recovered from the scene to forensic testing.
