One Killed, Two Abducted as Kidnappers Storm Ebonyi Community

One person was killed on New Year day and two others were abducted when gunmen stormed Afikpo community in Ebonyi State. Residents told our reporter that the incident occurred around 8pm along Ndibe Beach Road. The gunmen allegedly trailed a convoy of cars entering the community and opened fire on them. The convoy was said to be occupied by some indigenes, who just returned from abroad, led by Mr Alazu. The gunmen trailed the indigenes, who came in from their London base to the area and opened fire on one of the cars behind Alazu’s Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV). Their shooting forced the cars to stop and the gunmen whisked two girls, who came from London, and a boy, a relation in their company, who came in from Owerri, into their car.

An eye witnesses, Mr Onya Idam, said the driver managed to escape with the bullet ridden car with his boss, Mr Alazu, who is believed to be the main target of the kidnap, though he sustained bullet wounds. The kidnappers thereafter zoomed off with their three abductees, but on noticing that one of the girls, Chinyere, who also came in from London for Christmas holiday, had died after receiving gunshots, they pushed her out of the car.  Her body was later recovered and deposited at a mortuary. It was gathered that the kidnappers had established contact with the family of the abductees and demanded N50million ransom. The main target, Alazu, was taken to an undisclosed hospital in Abakaliki. Police spokesman Joshua Ukandu could not be reached for comments at press time.

Source: The Nation