Suspected bandits kill pregnant woman in Enugu

The murder of a woman identified as Mrs. Pat Ngwu from Ndiuno Nchatancha community in Emene, Enugu has sparked off violent demonstrations in Enugu.

The woman was reportedly abducted from her farmland by suspected bandits on Wednesday and found dead in a bush near a stream in the morning.

Eyewitness accounts said several machete cuts were found on the lifeless body of the woman who went to her farm Wednesday afternoon with a wheelbarrow to harvest cassava but never returned home.

The Enugu State Government, in a statement, by the Secretary to the State government, Prof Simon Uchenna Ortuanya, condemned the murder.

It said: “The Enugu State Government condemns in its entirety the alleged murder of a woman in a farmland at Nchatancha community in Emene, Enugu East Local Government Area.

“We condole with the family of the deceased and hereby charge the security agencies to commence a full scale investigation into the unfortunate incident with a view to apprehending and prosecuting the culprits.”

It was gathered that when the deceased could not return home, her husband raised alarm and a search party was organised to look out for her.

The search in the farmland and nearby bush Wednesday night yielded no result as only the wheelbarrow and her machete were seen.

According to the eyewitnesses, information was received from passers-by on Thursday morning that the mutilated corpse of a woman was dumped by Asata river.

When the youths rushed to the place, they discovered that it was the missing woman that was killed.

“We found several machete cuts on her body including the head and neck with her pant removed and we are suspecting that she must have been attacked and raped by bandits in the bush,” a native of Nchatancha said.

However, the development led to a violent protest in Nchatancha and Obinagu communities as youths from the area, who were extremely angered, took to the streets.

They marched through the streets and blocked the Enugu -Abakaliki highway at Eke Obinagu market area and Annunciation Hospital junction, burning tires and beating people including travelers.

Some vehicles were reportedly damaged by the youths, who threatened to go after the bandits wherever they reside within the community to revenge the woman’s death.

Security operatives from Emene Police Division were said to have brought the situation under control and later took the corpse of the woman to Annunciation Hospital Mortuary in Emene.

Contacted, the spokesman of Enugu State Police Command, SP Ebere Amaraizu, said the command has already commenced investigations into the murder of the woman.

He said the Commissioner of Police, Suleiman Balarabe, has directed full scale investigations with a view to establishing what actually happened and persons involved and their motives amongst others.