From PAUL OSUYI, Asaba
There was pandemonium in Illah community, Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State as unknown assailant suspected to be Fulani herdsman beheaded a woman and inflicted severe injuries on two others.
The rampaging assailant was alleged to have attempted to rape the victims who were said to be on a fishing expedition at the Otu-Ngegu (Gulugulu) in Ajaji area of the sleepy community, before unleashing matchet on them.
According to a community source, “the women were fishing when the man wearing mask and dressed like Fulani herdsman emerged from the nearby bush and attacked them trying to rape them.
“But they resisted which infuriated him as he brought out a sharp cutlass to cut the neck of one of the women. She died instantly. The assailant also descended on the two others but was unable to kill them. He however inflicted injuries on them.”
As the news of the attack spread round town, tension became palpable as residents scampered for safety for fear of being victims of the onslaught of marauding herdsmen.
The source added that the situation could have be worse but for the intervention of the police who stormed the scene of the incident which made the assailant to disappear into the thin air.
The source told our correspondent that the police later removed the corpse of the beheaded woman while the injured victims were taken to the hospital for treatment.
Public Relations Officer of the state police command, DSP Celestina Kalu however said the suspected assailant was not Fulani herdsman but an unknown attacker who masked himself to commit the crime.
Kalu stated that the beheaded victim was an Hausa woman, adding that the injured victims were receiving treatment at the hospital.
“Yes there was an attack but it was herdsmen because the attacker masked up. We are already on top of the situation and normalcy has been restored. The matter is under investigation,” she confirmed.