MEET FRANK OSHANUGOR
By Frank Oshanugor
Barely nine months after some Fulani gunmen killed a vigilante operative named Mr. Samuel Uka (a.k.a. Sule) at Ubulu-Uku in Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State, another indigene of the town identified as Onyeogani Onwenna-Iyeli was on Sunday night murdered by a ravaging gang of gunmen suspected to be of Fulani extraction.
The deceased popularly known as a brave hunter was said to have been attacked by the gunmen on Sunday night when he went on a lone hunting expedition in the bush where his farm was located without knowing that the gunmen were loitering around.
According to sources at Ubulu-Uku, the gunmen had shot guns at him but since he could not succumb to the bullets, they decided to use danger on him, thus leaving him finally dead before they relocated from the crime scene.
It was gathered that in the early hours on Monday as the killers were moving out of the bush, they ran into another Ubulu-Uku man who was harvesting cassava in his farm. He was said to have promptly taken to his heels soon as he noticed no fewer than four men armed with AK47 and Pomp Action rifles.
The man was said to have recognized the gun men as Fulani marauders always armed as they ravaged people’s farms with their cows, though it could not easily be ascertained if Onwenna-Iyeli’s killers were herding any cows in the bush where the incident occurred.
Some Ubulu-Uku indigenes who spoke to Atlanticnewsonline on anonymous basis described the 46-year-old deceased hunter and father of children as a very brave but easy going personality.
It was learnt that soon as the news of his death filtered into Ubulu-Uku after his corpse was discovered in the early morning hours on Monday, vigilante operatives promptly galvanized into action to search for the gunmen who probably must have gotten wind of the impending counter attack and decided to run away. It was on their way trying to escape that they ran into another indigene harvesting cassava. Luckily, he reportedly escaped unhurt.
Many indigenes of the town have been wondering while their once peaceful community has turned a killing field for Fulani gunmen whose cows have over the years ravaged people’s farms destroying their crops without any government’s intervention.
Efforts to get official statement from Delta State Police Command Headquarters, Asaba on the gruesome killing proved futile as repeated calls to the Command’s spokesman Bright Edafe could not be picked at about 3.30pm on Tuesday.
