Corps Member Shot In Anambra Cult Clash

A corps member, Julius Oghoroko, who was serving with a government organization in Anambra State today, had narrowly escaped death after being shot by unknown gunmen.

Sources told SaharaReporters that the Delta State born Corps member was returning from a function with his friend when he was shot. He was mistakenly identified for a cult member by a rival group and was shot at point blank range. The assailants fled, sources say.

It was a messy crime scene. Blood gushed out of his body before he was immediately rushed to the Anambra State Teaching Hospital, in Amaku. It is there where the wounded man was given emergency treatment, with a team of doctors feverishly working to save his life.

Confirming the incident to SaharaReporters through several phone calls, the Anambra State Command of the Nigeria Police said an investigation into the case is underway.

The Command, through his spokesman, Emeka Chukwuemeka, disclosed that surveillance had been ‘beefed-up’ around Umunya, in Oyi local government area of the state, where a source said the incident occurred.

Chukwuemeka said no suspect as been arrested yet, but he attributed the incident to what he called, “a renewed cult clash” among youth, especially among students in the area.

Chukwuemeka revealed that residents of the community had informed the command of “constant fights” between cultists in the area. In this instance, he stressed that his command responded quickly to their calls about a case of multiple gunshots. Their fast arrival to the scene likely saved the life of the corps member, Chukwuemeka said.

A nurse at the Teaching hospital where Julius Oghoroko was taken told SaharaReporters that he was responding well to treatment. The bullets, she said, have since been removed from his body, thereby giving hospital officials a cautious freedom to speak on his status. They are now listing him in a critical, but stable condition.

"The bullets measured about eight centimeters in his body, and (he) got injured at his right biceps of the muscle (and in other areas,") she revealed.