Newlywed bride shot dead in Anambra

The gunmen attack in Nnobi, Anambra State on Monday claimed the lives of several people, including a 22-year-old newlywed bride (name withheld), who had her traditional marriage one week prior.

According to a family source who talked with our correspondent on her visit to the town on Tuesday under the condition of anonymity, the victim, who was her parents' only child, was waiting for her husband, who was stationed overseas, to come home before she was killed by the attackers' errant gunfire.

A number of people, including some vigilante operatives, were killed by unidentified gunmen on Monday during attacks on Nnewi town in Nnewi North LGA and Nnobi in Idemili South LGA. A number of other people were also injured.

Tradesmen and citizens fled inside as the attackers — who were thought to be Monday sit-at-home enforcers — ran erratically through the air, causing fear in both towns. Neighbouring towns include Nnewi and Nnobi.

"One of my relatives was among those killed yesterday (Monday) at Nnobi," the source stated. She was a week old newlywed bride who was waiting for her husband, who was stationed overseas, to return. She was her parents' only kid, twenty-two years old.

"Yesterday (Monday) was a terrible day for the family and a painful event. In order to fetch vegetables for their meal preparation, her mother sent her to their farm. She was struck by stray bullets during the gunfight between security personnel and those daring criminals on her way home.

"In a black Landcruiser jeep, the thugs broke into the Nnobi neighbourhood and started shooting at some vigilantes, critically wounding two security officers. That no arrests have been made more than twenty-four hours later is a grave worry. We find it incomprehensible that Igbo territory has turned into a place where bloodshed occurs without consequence.

According to information our correspondent received on Tuesday, the state's vigilante service and police command have launched an investigation to find the perpetrators of the Monday attacks.

Tochukwu Ikenga, the spokesperson for the Anambra State police, responded to the news in a statement on Tuesday, stating that the police had issued an emergency manhunt order for the attackers in response to a direction from Commissioner of Police Nnaghe Obono Itam.

Ikenga assured the populace the assurance that the police would be held accountable for the valiant deed of the dead vigilante operator and the other victims of the assault.

He declared, "The armed individuals operating in a red Highlander jeep abducted a citizen in Nnewi at 1:30 pm on Monday. They were followed to Nnobi, where they engaged security personnel in a fire battle. The Commissioner of Police, CP Nnaghe Obono Itam, has ordered an immediate manhunt operation on them.

"Due to the thugs' indiscriminate gunfire in an effort to flee the scene, the bullet also killed two innocent bystanders in the vicinity in addition to killing one of the security personnel during the gunfight.

"The victims' bodies were collected by the Police Responding Team at the scene, and they were taken to the hospital. Unfortunately, three of the victims—including a 22-year-old woman—were pronounced dead by the on-call doctors, while the other two are still being treated.

"The commissioner called the killers cowards who have murdered sleep and denounced the killing in the strongest terms possible."

According to Ikenga, the CP also offered its condolences to the families of the departed and pledged to bring the brave vigilante operator and gullible bystanders at the site to account.

In addition, he urged the public—particularly the eyewitnesses—to provide the police with information about the ongoing operation, promising to keep the public informed of any updates.

The Anambra State Vigilante Service also promised to work nonstop with other security agencies to capture everyone connected to the death of its commander at Nnewi and make the murderers pay with their lives, according to Nweke Nweke, the organization's public relations officer.

The AVG officer, described by Nweke as Eloka Ubajekwe, popularly known as "Tallest," was brutally killed on Monday in the Nnewi region of the state by "children of the darkness who claimed they were enforcing a sit-at-home order."

The victim's family, however, stated they were still traumatised and shocked by the unexpected event, so they chose not to speak on the tragedy.

Over six people lost their lives in the attacks, according to sources in both villages, while the exact number of casualties is yet unknown.

 Source: News Express