The killing of a woman-farmer, Mrs Pat Ngwu, from Ndiuno Nchatancha community in Emene, Enugu East Local Government Area of Enugu state on Thursday triggered violent protest in the state.
The woman was said to have been abducted from her farmland by suspected bandits on Wednesday while her body was found dead in a bush near a stream on Thursday morning.
According to a witness, several machete cuts were found on the lifeless body of the woman, who went to her farm on Wednesday afternoon with a wheelbarrow to harvest cassava but never returned home.
It was gathered that when the deceased could not return home, her husband raised an alarm and a search party was organized to look for her.
The search in the farmland and nearby bush on Wednesday night yielded no result as only the wheelbarrow and her machete were seen.
Witnesses said passersby on Thursday morning revealed that the mutilated corpse of a woman was dumped by the Asaba river.
When the youths rushed to the place, they discovered that it was the missing woman who was murdered.
An indigene of the community who craved anonymity said: ”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.”
But the incident caused a violent protest in Nchatancha and Obinagu communities on Thursday, as hundreds of youths from the area took to the streets in protest.
They marched through the streets and blocked the Enugu – Abakaliki highway at Eke Obinagu market area and Annunciation Hospital junction, burning tyres and beating people including travellers.
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, reportedly controlled the situation and later took the woman’s corpse to Annunciation Hospital mortuary in Emene for autopsy.
When contacted, the spokesman of Enugu State Police Command, SP Ebere Amaraizu, said the command has already commenced investigations into the murder of the woman.
“Following the report of the incident of alleged murder case of a woman inside a farm land at Nchatancha community in Emene, Enugu state received by the command today, 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.
“The command further advises members of the public to continue to be law-abiding and avoid any thing that will truncate the existing peace and security in the state as security operatives will leave no stone unturned towards unmasking those behind the dastardly act,” he said.
