Igbawase Ukumba in Lafia
Gunmen in the early hours of Sunday invaded the residence of the Nasarawa State Commissoner for Higher Education, Chief Clement Uhembe, and killed a 400 level student of the Federal University, Lafia, Terlumum Hemba.
The incident was reported to have occurred at the Kaduna Koro area, a suburb of Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital, along the Lafia-Makurdi highway at about 1:00 am when the unknown gunmen struck.
Narrating the incident to journalists in Lafia Sunday, an eyewitness, who simply identified himself as Daddy, said the gunmen arrived the commissioner’s residence at about 1:00 am on Sunday with arms and terrorised the occupants leading to the killing of the 400 level Microbiology student.
Daddy, who claimed that he was hiding in a vehicle parked in the commissioner’s residence, narrated that the gunmen attacked the university student who they first came across and shot him at close range and chased him as he attempted to escape and used sticks to beat him till he bled to death at the threshold of the compound.
The eyewitness also said that the gunmen beat some of the occupants of the residence demanding the whereabouts of the higher education commissoner, who was said to have travelled with some members of his family to Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, for the wedding ceremony of his son.
Daddy further revealed that the other occupants who were left behind in the compound escaped into the bushes as the gunmen had a field day as thy dug their way into the commissioner’s living house.
When speaking to journalists about the attack, Uhembe said he suspected some high level indifference of some persons opposing him and who had threatened to settle scores with him.
He said: “The issue arose from the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Ihuman Ward, which the party had never won since its existence, hence it angered a lot of people. And since that APC victory, my life has been under threat from some individuals.”
When contacted, the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Agyaragu division, Mr. Biam, confirmed the attack and said the deceased person’s corpse had been removed from the scene of the incident and deposited at the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital, Lafia as investigations into the incident had commenced.
