There was pandemonium on Monday morning when herdsmen gunned down a graduate of the Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma, Miss Ella Williams, along the Benin-Ekpoma expressway.
According to a Facebook user, Asomba Andrew Egbuonu, who announced her death on his wall on Monday, the deceased was travelling from Benin to Ekpoma to pick up her call-up letter in preparation for the compulsory one year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme.
Unfortunately, the herdsmen opened fire on the bus she was travelling in, killing her on the spot and kidnapping other passengers.
Egbuonu wrote: “I received the devastating news of the demise of a young lady and a promising future of the Nigerian nation, Miss Ella Williams, in the hands of bloodthirsty and heartless herdsmen on the Benin-Ekpoma Road in Edo State.
“Miss Williams who has just graduated with a degree in Architecture from Ambrose Alli University Ekpoma, was said to have traveled from her Benin base to pick up her call-up letter. She never made it back as her vehicle was attacked by murderous marauders who ambushed vehicles by opening fire on them with their small arms (aka AK-47 assault guns) killing her on the spot. What a country where human lives have no value, especially to these emotion-less invaders.
“All over Nigeria, criminals and kidnappers plan and find ways of stopping vehicles before kidnapping their victims. This appears to be too much work for these roaming marauders who prefer to use their bullets indiscriminately to stop vehicles on highways, killing the drivers and any other unfortunate passengers, before kidnapping the leftover survivors and herding them into our vast ungoverned bushes and forests.”
“Miss Williams is gone, lost to a nation in need of her brightest and best. Her parents are heartbroken; her friends and colleagues in deep shock; her killers are out there still demanding and waiting to collect ransom from the surviving passengers from last week’s murderous and senseless kidnapping; and the Nigerian State moves on as it is business as usual to our rulers,” the Facebook user added.
According to the Nigerian Tribune, the Benin-Ekpoma-Auchi-Okene Road has become a haven for suspected herdsmen and kidnappers, who daily operate by firing shots at vehicles.
By this act, a number of passengers have been killed or injured, with many others kidnapped for ransom.
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