Suspected herdsmen kill two vigilantes in Delta

Suspected herdsmen reportedly shot down two vigilantes in the Okpanam community, Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State.

The suspected herders had abducted a woman and her daughter on Wednesday and members of the vigilante group went after them.

A community source told our correspondent, “One of our dependable vigilantes, popularly called Emeka Chosen, received a call around 9.25pm on Wednesday that someone had been kidnapped by Fulani herdsmen.

“Following the call, he mobilised and took two other vigilante members along with him and they went there on a motorcycle.

“They got to the bush path behind the Customs checkpoint, along the Asaba-Benin Expressway, unknown to them that the herdsmen had laid an ambush for them.

“As they went into the bush, the gunmen shot at the motorcycle and the bullets hit Emeka and one of his colleagues, while the motorcyclist managed to crawl into the bush.

“It was the motorcyclist, who also sustained bullet wounds, who managed to make an emergency call to other vigilante members.”

The source said the corpses of the victims had since been deposited in the mortuary.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Onome Onovwakpoyeya, confirmed the incident on Thursday and said the vigilantes were unarmed while chasing the hoodlums.

She stated, “A woman and her daughter were kidnapped and the vigilantes in Okpanam were alerted and they pursued the kidnappers, but the hoodlums laid an ambush for them and shot two of them dead

“Our men were in the bush last night (Wednesday) but because it was already late, they couldn’t do anything, but this morning, they have entered the bush to arrest the fleeing suspects.

Onovwakpoyeya added that the whereabouts of the kidnapped woman and her daughter were still unknown.