Okpanam community in Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State was thrown into mourning on Wednesday as suspected herdsmen shot dead two vigilantes chasing them for kidnapping a mother and her child.
Confirming the incident on Thursday, the State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Onome Onovwakpoyeya, added that the command was on the trail of the assailants.
She disclosed that a woman and her daughter were kidnapped and the vigilantes in the community were alerted.
According to her, the hoodlums laid an ambush for the vigilantes in a bush and shot two of them dead.
Onovwakpoyeya disclosed that policemen stormed the bush on Wednesday night but could not do anything as it was dark.
She added that the policemen returned to the scene on Thursday morning and were on the trail of the fleeing suspects.
The police spokesperson noted that the whereabouts of the woman and her child remained unknown.
“One of our dependable vigilantes, popularly called Emeka Chosen, received a call around 9.25 pm on Wednesday that someone had been kidnapped by Fulani herdsmen.
“Following the call, he mobilised and took two other vigilante members along with him and they went there on a motorcycle.
“They got to the bush path behind the Customs checkpoint, along the Asaba-Benin Expressway, unknown to them that the herdsmen had laid an ambush for them.
“As they went into the bush, the gunmen shot at the motorcycle and the bullets hit Emeka and one of his colleagues, while the motorcyclist managed to crawl into the bush.
“It was the motorcyclist, who also sustained bullet wounds, who managed to make an emergency call to other vigilante members,” The Punch quoted an unnamed community source as saying.