By Our Correspondent in Dekina
After a lull in their inhuman activities, gunmen have again struck in the Kogi East Senatorial district, killed one person and kidnapped 3 others, The Reporters,an online publication, gathered.
According to eyewitness,the kidnappers stormed the Royal Garden Relaxation Spot,on Anyigba-Ankpa highway in killed one man and kidnapped three persons from Egume in Dekina Local government area of Kogi state.
Eyewitness said the gunmen,who allegedly dressed in Fulani attire, stormed the open arena of the Royal Garden where people were relaxing and started shooting sporadically setting customers on a scampering spree for safety.
The deceased, Anthony Monday, a cashew dealer from Ate-Iji in Anyigba, was said to be struggling to escape from the scene when he was shot dead at about 8 p.m.
One of his friends sharing the same table with him was also said to have received gun shot and now receiving medical attention in one of the hospitals in the area.
Our correspondent reliably gathered that,l the hotel manager’s 18 months old boy, a brother of late Anthony Monday and one lady were whisked away to unknown destination by kidnappers.
Before the arrival of policemen at the scene of the incident, the sources said the kidnappers had left the scene with the victims, living the late Anthony Monday’s lifeless body in the pool of his blood.
Barely 12 hours after the incident, it was gathered that the kidnappers started demanding for ransom while the toddler they also kidnapped along was giving them tough time and sleepless night with continuous crying.
In his reaction, the national President of Egume Ome Descendants Union, (EODU), Alhaji Muhammed Lawal Ibrahim, expressed shock over the ugly incident and appealed to policemen to ensure that perpetrators were apprehended and punished accordingly to serve as deterrent to others.
Ibrahim also advised the people of Egume to remain calm and go about their normal businesses, adding that efforts were being on by the law enforcement agencies to protect lives and property in the community.
The Commissioner of Police, Kogi State Command, Ede Ayuba Ekpeji who confirmed the incident said: “I received a report from Egume Division, that three unknown armed men attacked Royal Garden Relaxation Spot,shooting sporadically.
“Immediately,the DPO mobilized operatives to the scene, where he met one yet to be identified body lying in pool of his blood. My men moved him to the Hospital where he was confirmed dead. The body was deposited at the hospital for autopsy.”
He advised members of the public to sharpen their power of observation and always report promptly any suspicious movement, objects as well as activities of criminal elements within their neighborhood to the Police or other security agencies in the statetate.
Ekpeji, who reiterated the Command’s commitment to guarantee security of lives and property in the state disclosed that he had deployed a team of operatives to hunt for the hoodlums and ensure their arrest and made to face the full wrath of the law.
The Reporters recalls that kogi state government,in collaboration with the police established, mobile police stations in kogi Central and West Senatorial districts about five months ago to combat hightened kidnapping and armed robbery incident in the state.
In one of such incidents on Abuja-Lokoja highway, the owner of a popular Super Market in Lokoja, Mr Nicholas Ofodile, was said to have lost his life while three military officers also died in the hand of kidnappers on Okene-Lokoja highway among other measures.
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