THE Awka-Etiti community in Idemili South Local
Government Area of Anambra State, now live in fear, over the gruesome torture
and death of a 23-year-old girl, Miss Francisca Ngozi Okoli, who was murdered
for resisting attempts by a group of gunmen to rape her before her parents in a
morning raid at their premises on Sunday, 29th July, 2012. The robbers were said to have stormed the premises around 4.30 a.m on that fateful day, armed with guns, cutlasses, cudgels and other dangerous weapons with which they broke the doors of the small bungalow where they attacked the family.
Narrating their ordeal to Crime and Security, the parents of the deceased, Mr and Mrs George Okoli, said that they were shocked beyond imagination at the incident and could not explain the reason behind the attack and eventual killing of their daughter.
Mr Okoli, a mason by profession, said that the hoodlums broke into their house about 4.30a.m on the fateful day, searched the whole rooms after overpowering them with guns and other dangerous weapons, after which they stole some cash and valuables which they had in the house before dragging his late daughter to a nearby detached room beside the bungalow where they insisted on raping her.
Okoli said that his attempt to save his daughter proved abortive when the robbers gave him the beating of his life and chased him out of the small room where he saw them tearing the dress and underwear of his daughter in a bid to rape her. In the process, his daughter was beckoning to him and invoking the mercy of God and anybody that could save her even though she posed a strong resistance against their move.
Angered by her continued resistance, Mr Okoli said that the robbers went ahead with their threat to kill her by hitting her with a pestle on her head, neck and waist. He further stated that he and his wife overheard the beating and cries of their daughter but were helpless because after he was chased out in his attempt to rescue her, he and other members of the family including his wife were locked in a room by the armed robbers while one of them guarded the door with a gun to instil fear in them.
“I could not do anything because they locked us inside one room and one of them manned the door threatening to kill us if we opened it. My wife and the little children with us were all afraid and shivering and at a point they beat my wife mercilessly when she wanted to react.”
Mr Okoli said that due to the shock and fear which overwhelmed him and his wife, they resigned to fate until about 6.30a.m after the robbers had left only to discover that their daughter had been killed with bruises all over her body. Her head was smashed with a club suspected to be pestle just as blood oozed out from her nostrils and ears while her tongue hung outside her mouth, adding that it was very surprising to the community vigilante members who used their vehicle to convey her remains to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Okoli noted that though their community had vigilantes
who were supposed to cover their residence, he was surprised that despite the
several hours spent by the robbers during their operation in his home, the
security personnel were nowhere to be found.
Meanwhile, the former prefect, Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, Vatican City, His Eminence, Francis Cardinal Arinze, has expressed outrage over the development, which he described as a mindless killing and an atrocity meted to a helpless person and prayed for the peaceful repose of the soul of Miss Francisca.
Also, the metropolitan Archbishop of Onitsha, Most Rev Dr. Valerian Okeke, deplored the orgy and wanton killing of innocent citizens and particularly a lady who could not have provoked her assailants by any means; he therefore called for thorough investigation into the matter.
The Archbishop further dispatched a team from his office to ascertain the circumstances leading to the murder of Miss Francisca, who was said to be a dedicated parishioner and an active member of the Catholic Youths Organization (CYON) at the St Josephs Catholic Church, Awka-Etiti.
In his reaction, the Parish Priest in charge of St Josephs Catholic Church Awka-Etiti, Rev. Fr. John Anosike, described the late Francisca as one who responded to church duties diligently adding that she was conscientious and dutiful, adding that the late Francisca acted the role of Veronica in a dramatised ‘Stations of the Cross’ and had always played such roles in other events in addition to her apostolate of cleaning the parish chapel always.
Also, Rev Fr. Innocent Okongwu, who was invited to pray for the lady before she was conveyed to the hospital, confirmed she was terribly brutalised, regretting that even her parents could not help her during the incident.
Dr Donald Nwasike, who received the body at the Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, Awka-Etiti, immediately after the incident, told Crime & Security that her body was brought into the hospital in what is known in medical parlance as BID meaning 'Brought in Dead' and that he observed that the lady was badly brutalised with severe head injuries and foam in the mouth.
Meanwhile, there is a strong indication by the community, that the ruthless gang of the armed robbers, rapists and murderers may have invaded the quiet town to destabilise them thereby urge the state security agents to come to their aim by fishing out those who commit the mindless crime.
Meanwhile, the former prefect, Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, Vatican City, His Eminence, Francis Cardinal Arinze, has expressed outrage over the development, which he described as a mindless killing and an atrocity meted to a helpless person and prayed for the peaceful repose of the soul of Miss Francisca.
Also, the metropolitan Archbishop of Onitsha, Most Rev Dr. Valerian Okeke, deplored the orgy and wanton killing of innocent citizens and particularly a lady who could not have provoked her assailants by any means; he therefore called for thorough investigation into the matter.
The Archbishop further dispatched a team from his office to ascertain the circumstances leading to the murder of Miss Francisca, who was said to be a dedicated parishioner and an active member of the Catholic Youths Organization (CYON) at the St Josephs Catholic Church, Awka-Etiti.
In his reaction, the Parish Priest in charge of St Josephs Catholic Church Awka-Etiti, Rev. Fr. John Anosike, described the late Francisca as one who responded to church duties diligently adding that she was conscientious and dutiful, adding that the late Francisca acted the role of Veronica in a dramatised ‘Stations of the Cross’ and had always played such roles in other events in addition to her apostolate of cleaning the parish chapel always.
Also, Rev Fr. Innocent Okongwu, who was invited to pray for the lady before she was conveyed to the hospital, confirmed she was terribly brutalised, regretting that even her parents could not help her during the incident.
Dr Donald Nwasike, who received the body at the Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, Awka-Etiti, immediately after the incident, told Crime & Security that her body was brought into the hospital in what is known in medical parlance as BID meaning 'Brought in Dead' and that he observed that the lady was badly brutalised with severe head injuries and foam in the mouth.
Meanwhile, there is a strong indication by the community, that the ruthless gang of the armed robbers, rapists and murderers may have invaded the quiet town to destabilise them thereby urge the state security agents to come to their aim by fishing out those who commit the mindless crime.