Kidnappers kill 15- year-old daughter of ex-lawmaker

It was shock and grief in the family of Sir Anthony Ezechinwoye, in Oraukwu, Idemili North Government Area of Anambra State, as they mourn the loss of their 15- year-old daughter, shot dead by kidnappers on Thursday.

Miss Paschalina Chisom Nwoye, an SS2 student of Mercy Secondary School, Umuoji, near Onitsha, was riding with her mother, Mrs. Veronica Ezechinwoye, when a five-man kidnapping gang allegedly blocked their chauffeur-driven Mercedes 190 car at about 6.30 pm, at All Hallows Junction, Onitsha and shot her at close range.

 It was learnt that Mrs. Ezechinwoye sustained gunshot wounds on her legs, as she resisted the hoodlums’ feverish attempts to drag her daughter into their vehicle.

The father of the deceased girl, who was still in shock, said that when the hoodlums attempted to drag his wife into their car, on her way home from her pharmaceutical shop, she resisted, lamenting that they had killed her daughter in cold blood.

He revealed that the resistance enraged the gang, causing them to batter and tear her clothes and inner garments. He said:

“My wife, who is a pharmacist and a member of the Idemili North Transition Committee, was returning home from her shop around 6.30 pm, when the five-man gang blocked my wife and 15-year-old daughter who was sitting in front; they just shot her in cold blood and dragged my wife out to join them inside their car, but she refused crying that she will not enter the car, since they have killed our daughter."

The ex-lawmaker, who alleged that on that fateful day, the police post at the All Hallows junction was bereft of policemen, called on the Anambra State government to improve the state’s security network, so as to safeguard the lives and property of law abiding citizens.

When contacted the Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Emeka Chukwuemeka, denied knowledge of the incident, claiming that the kidnap attempt was never reported to the police at Awada-Onitsha, in whose jurisdiction the crime was committed.