There is controversy surrounding the death of a 14-year-old child, identified simply as Aghogho, who was last Sunday, killed by a stray bullet at Old Welfare Street in Igbudu community, Warri South council area of Delta state.
The Sources, according to the Nation, said the victim was hit by a stray bullet from gunshots fired by soldiers manning a security post in the area and who were trying to avert a clash between rival cult groups around 7p.m.
Another report claims the bullet was fired by suspected cultists during the skirmish.
The victim, an only child, was reportedly running an errand for her mother when she met her untimely end.
“We don’t know if the gun was fired by the soldiers or cult boys. All we know is that when the gun was shot, a bullet hit Aghogho, a girl of about 14 years whom, her mother, had sent on an errand that evening,” a source narrated.
It was gathered that when the family of the deceased approached the soldiers over the incident, they denied firing shots, directing the bereaved family to go to the community boys.
But a group, Delta Communities Transparency Advocacy Initiative (DCTAI), has accused the soldiers who are attached to 3 Battalion, Sector 1 Command, of being responsible for the death of the teenager.
In a statement made available to newsmen in Warri, the group insisted that its findings revealed that the rival cult clash involved the use of only dangerous weapons such as knives, cutlasses and broken bottles until soldiers arrived at the scene.
The statement signed by the national coordinator and secretary of DCTAI,
Chief Matthew Edafe and Comrade Philip Onokpite, asserted that while trying to disperse the warring cultists, a bullet from the shots fired by the soldiers struck the young girl.
“Shortly after we received the report of how a teenage girl by name Aghogho, was hit by a stray bullet that later took her life, we decided to commence an independent investigation into the case to ascertain the true position of what actually transpired at the scene that ill-fated day.
“Our on-the-spot assessment of the scene of the incident revealed that the supremacy tussle between two rival cult groups in the area which had been going on for quite some time in Igbudu community and its environs started again that day at about 5;30pm from a beer parlour and later snowballed into a free for all fights among members of the rival cult groups in the area.
“We were made to understand by the residents of the area that the fracas between the cult groups which lasted almost two hours saw the engagement of dangerous weapons like axe knives, cutlasses and broken bottles by the cult members, all through the period the violent clash lasted and there was no gunshot heard.
“It was at about 7pm when the Soldiers from the 3 Battalion under Sector 1 Command, ‘Operation Delta Safe’ arrived the scene and in attempt to disperse the cultists fired warning shots into the air and it was one of the bullets that actually strayed to hit the teenager who happened to be an only child sent on an errand by her mother.
“We are hereby using this medium to appeal to the soldiers of the 3Battalion, Effurun Barracks to accept the fact that the sad incident was due to the carelessness of its men and take full responsibility for their professional misconduct that led to the death of the young girl,” the statement concluded.
In a swift reaction to the allegation, the Commanding Officer (R) 3 Battalion, Effurun Barracks, Uvwie LGA, Major Bala, dismissed the claim of the group, stating that his men carried out the intervention operation to restore peace to the troubled area with utmost care and professionalism.
He described as false the claim that there was no gunshot in the area until his men arrived, stating that it was the sporadic gun shootings from the scene that attracted his men who were stationed at a nearby checkpoint in the community.
He said that some cultists were seen carrying double barrel rifles and shooting at each other before the arrival of his men.
Bala added that it would require a ballistic expert to determine the exact bullet that killed the deceased with both the entry and exit point in her body taking into cognisance anď also the distance at which the bullet hit the victim must be established to be able to confirm the allegation made by the group.
Meanwhile, residents of Old Welfare Street have decried the incessant activities of cultists, who fight, kill and break into people’s houses to steal valuables.
“Nobody is safe in my area; cultists walk around with guns day and night. It is either they are fighting, killing or breaking into people’s houses to steal.
“Though the community is Igbudu community, we cannot go and complain to them because it seems that the community boys and Hausa boys (who are cultists) are the perpetrators of this evil,” a resident of the area lamented.
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