Teacher, student die in Delta after youths foil kidnap

• Herdsmen attack, amputate farmer’s hand in Benue
One of the teachers shot in a kidnap incident on Monday by gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen has died at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Asaba, Delta State. Three armed men had stormed Azagba Mixed Secondary School, Isele-Azagba on Monday in a black SUV, abducted six teachers but left with only four while others escaped with bullet wounds.

The deceased, simply identify as Mr. Oriakhi, died yesterday at the FMC where doctors had been battling to save his life after he had been shot in the stomach.

It was also learnt that two of the four teachers who were rescued through the efforts of vigilance group members and the police, the principal of the school, Mrs. Bridget Onyeji and Mr. Ifeanyichukwu were also shot and are currently receiving treatment at the FMC.Meanwhile, members of the Issele-Azagba community said they have rescued seven persons including the teachers that were shot while one of the students, who ran into the bush, was found dead at about 3:30p.m. yesterday.

“After combing the bush searching for the student, we just found his dead body. We are peace-loving people, it is unfortunate that this evil befell on us. We are in a state of shock as a community, as youths we don’t have guns to protect ourselves. What we did was to enter the bush and help to rescue the innocent children who ran into the forest. One of the teachers died this morning.

“The police and vigilante were chasing the kidnappers while most of us were helping the victims that were shot because the kidnappers were shooting while trying to escape. The school was established in 1980 and it was not fenced. Nobody envisaged this calamity,” the youth chairman, Isele-Azagba, Comrade Edozie Ogebu, told newsmen.

The Commissioner of Police, Adeyinka Adeleke, who confirmed the death, said the command was making an effort to arrest the perpetrators.Meanwhile, panic engulfed Gboogyo community in Benue State as suspected Fulani herdsmen yesterday attacked one Mrs. Grace Zeku, on her farm and amputated her hand in Guma local government area, a border community with Nassarawa State.

Narrating her ordeal to newsmen, Zeku said she had gone to farm when the herdsmen came and attacked her, asking her to place her hand on a log of wood where it was cut off. “The herdsmen chopped off her hand and ran off as they told her to go home,” she added.Zeku, who also sustained machete cuts on the head is currently receiving treatment at the Federal Medical Center, Apir, Makurdi. The Police Public Relations Officer, Benue command, DSP Sewuese Anene, said she was yet to get any information on the incident.Similarly, the force commander, Operation Whirl Stroke, OPWS, Major General Adeyemi Yekini, said he was not aware of the attack.