From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
Passengers numbering over 10 were abducted by gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen, along the Isuikwuato-Uturu Road in Abia State, yesterday.
This is even as a woman from Amagu, Mbaugwu, Uturu, in Isuikwuato Local Government Area of the State was raped and stabbed to death by hoodlums also suspected to be Fulani herders.
Reports claimed that the passengers, some of whom were believed to be lecturers and students of Abia State University (ABSU), Uturu, were forced out of their vehicles by the hoodlums who had stopped them. It was gathered that despite soldiers on duty at a nearby checkpoint engaging the hoodlums in gun duel, the gunmen succeeded in taking their victims into the nearby bush.
A source said: “The hoodlums, who we suspect to be Fulani herdsmen, used one of the vehicles to block the road and then had the opportunity to force passengers in the vehicle and others coming from behind out and marched them inside a nearby bush.
“What surprised many people was that the hoodlums succeeded in abducting the passengers, despite the fact that soldiers in a nearby checkpoint engaged them in a gun battle.”
The profile of those abducted could not be ascertained as at the time of filing the report, however, it is believed that lecturers and students of ABSU might be among the victims.
Meanwhile, a lady who used to sell fruits within the vicinity of ABSU main campus, Uturu, had been raped and stabbed to death by suspected Fulani herdsmen.
The woman, whose name could not be immediately ascertained, was said to have met her death after closing for the day’s business and was going home. The deceased, who hailed from Amagu, Mbaugwu, in Uturu, was said to have been accosted by the hoodlums on her way home and raped, after which they gave her multiple stabs all over her body and she bled to death.
(Continued on www.sunnewsonline.
When contacted, Abia command’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Geoffrey Ogbonna, said he was not aware of the incidents.