Two police orderlies attached to a former House of Representatives member, Joan Onyemaechi, and her driver were killed on Tuesday evening when gunmen kidnapped her and her children in Asaba, the Delta State capital.
According to reports, the gunmen raided Onyemaechi’s church, King Jesus and I, located at Ogajifo Street off DSB Road, and shot the two police orderlies and her driver before whisking the former lawmaker and her children away.
Sources from the street told reporters that a stray bullet also hit a passerby who died on the spot.
“The gunmen stormed the church and immediately shot at the police officer and the driver.
“They drove the lawmaker away in her SUV and were shooting indiscriminately in the street. Unfortunately, a stray bullet hit a young man who died on the spot.”
Onyemaechi was the immediate past Commissioner for Technical Education under Governor Sheriff Oborevwori before resigning to let her younger brother run for the chairmanship in the recently completed council election.
When contacted, the state’s Police Public Relations Officer, SP Bright Edafe, verified the kidnapping event but stated that only a police officer and one person were slain.
He said, “Only a policeman and one other were killed. I don’t know whether he was the driver. They picked only her.”
