A brutal attack by gunmen suspected to be kidnappers, on Thursday night, claimed the life of one female student while four others escaped with varying degrees of injuries.
The Guardian gathered that the victims are students of St Paul’s College, Eke in Udi Local Council of Enugu State, who were returning home from school.
The bus conveying them home after school was said to have been attacked around 4.00p.m. by the gunmen, who reportedly shot severally at the vehicle.
While the bus driver escaped into the bush, the kidnappers rained bullets on the bush and in the process, one of the students was killed while those who sustained injuries were rushed to the hospital for treatment.
A gruesome video displaying the lifeless body of the victim, as well as some of the survivors of the attack, have been circulated in the social media.
A voice was heard in the video narrating the incident: “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 student they have murdered. This one is unconscious, pointing at another victim. We are praying that God will sustain her. She got four bullet wounds.
“This was done by the herdsmen operating at Eke-Egede Road. These are the ones that survived. The government should come to our rescue.”
Principal of the school, Rev. Fr. Frank Eze confirmed the attack., saying: “It is true; we closed by 3:30 pm on Thursday and as the students went 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.
‘’Security situation in the Udi and Ezeagu axis has deteriorated with kidnappers having a field day.;;
A community leader, who pleaded anonymity, said many victims of kidnap in Udi and Ezeagu areas were kept within the same location until ransom was paid.
He alleged that those who could not meet up with the ransom demand were usually killed after a few days.
He said the forest spanning about 18 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.
It was gathered that a traditional ruler from Affa was kidnapped along Eke-Egede-Affa road recently after a security meeting with chairman of Udi Local Government and the neighbourhood watch personnel.
Meanwhile, attempts made to obtain a reaction from the Police Public Relations Officer, Enugu State Command, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, but he requested a text message be sent to him.
He was yet to respond to the message as of the time of filing report.
