Eke community group petitions Senate over killing of two by soldiers
The people of Eke community in Udi Local Government of Enugu State have petitioned the Senate, demanding justice for families of a man and a woman by soldiers of the Nigerian Army.
A group, under the aegis of Eke Progressive Forum, had sent a petition to the Senate President calling for an investigation into the impunity by the military that led to the convenient murder on June 29, 2023.
The tragedy reportedly happened when the local vigilante group responded to a distress call from victims of a robbery.
The man who was a member of the local vigilante group was among members of the team that arrived the robbery scene in the company of policemen when they encountered the soldiers at the spot.
The soldiers are said to had picked on the vigilante men and shot one of them several times until he died on the spot. Others also sustained several bullet injuries, local witnesses said.
In their petition to the Senate through newly elected Enugu West Senator, Engr. Senator Osita Ngwu, the Eke Progressive Forum called for an open investigation and prosecution of the accused soldiers for gruesome and unlawful killing.
In the petition dated July 4, 2023, the group noted that the soldiers had allegedly shot and killed a vigilante member, Mr. Ebuka Oke, while two others were taken to the hospital for treatment.
Another victim of the impunity, Mrs. Nkechi Udegbunam, a resident of Enugu Eke, was also shot together with her husband, Mr Izuchukwu Udegbunam by the soldiers.
The couple was on a motorcycle and on the way to Eke. While his wife died on the spot, Udegbunam was gravely wounded and is still in critical condition in the hospital.
The petition called for intervention of the Senate on the gruesome murder of Eke Neighbourhood Guards by three officers of the Nigerian Army.
The petitioners told the Senate that the soldiers had opened fire on the victims at close range even after they identified themselves with their identity cards and uniforms. “The shooting was in defiance of the pleading and clarification of the guards that they were [members of] the neighbourhood vigilante,” they asserted.
“It took the spirited intervention of the Ninth Mile policemen to get the soldiers to stop their offensive and assaults on the Guards. The Neighbourhood Guards did not also resist the soldiers when they asked them to stop advancing to the incident venue.
“The soldiers had shot and killed a vigilante member – Mr. Ebuka Oke while two other vigilante members were taken to the hospital for treatment and resuscitation. The three wounded members are Mr. Obinwa Ofor, Mr. Chinedu Okoro, and Mr. Emeka Anigbo.
