Suspected armed herdsmen attacked commuters along the Owerri-Orlu Road in Imo State late Saturday night, killing a motorcyclist and kidnapping a female student of the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO), witnesses and security sources have confirmed.
The incident occurred around 8:00 PM near the Eke-Ukwu market axis, a notorious stretch prone to banditry and herder-farmer clashes.
Eyewitnesses reported that a group of about 10 gunmen, dressed in black attire and wielding AK-47 rifles, emerged from nearby bushes and opened fire on a commercial motorcycle carrying the victim, identified as 22-year-old Chioma Okoro, a 300-level student in the Department of Microbiology.
The motorcyclist, whose identity remains undisclosed pending family notification, was shot multiple times in the chest and head.
He died instantly at the scene, slumping off the bike as the assailants dragged Okoro into the surrounding forest.
“They shouted in Hausa and fired into the air to scare us away,” said a trader who escaped the scene.
“The okada man tried to speed off, but they shot him dead and took the girl screaming.”
Imo State Police Command spokesperson, DSP Henry Okoye, confirmed the attack in a statement Sunday morning, noting that a joint team of police operatives and local vigilantes had launched a manhunt for the kidnappers.
“We have deployed tactical units to comb the forests around Orlu and Ihite-Uboma areas. Intelligence suggests the gunmen may be operating from nearby enclaves used by herdsmen,” Okoye said.
No ransom demands have been made public yet, but sources indicate the victim’s family has been contacted.
This attack marks the third such incident in Imo State within two months, heightening fears over escalating insecurity linked to armed herders.
Community leaders in Orlu have decried the federal government’s slow response to repeated calls for enhanced security patrols along major highways.
“Our students and transporters are living in fear. When will the authorities act decisively?” asked Chief Emeka Nwosu, president of the Eke-Ukwu Market Traders Association.
FUTO management expressed shock and has appealed to parents to advise students against night travels.
The university’s Public Relations Officer, Dr. Uche Onyeagoro, urged anyone with information on Okoro’s whereabouts to contact the police hotline.
As search operations continue, residents are bracing for potential fallout in this agrarian region plagued by resource-based conflicts.