The Kaduna State Police Command confirmed the gruesome death of a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, Grace Chalya Silas, by unidentified assailants in the state on Thursday.
The command’s spokesman, ASP Mansir Hassan, informed reporters that the state police commissioner, CP Musa Yusuf Garba, has ordered a manhunt for the Corps members’ murders.
Chalya Silas, who is performing her one-year mandatory national service in the state, was allegedly stabbed to death while running at Barnawa in Kaduna South Local Government Area on Wednesday.
Her Friends and classmates at the University of Jos expressed their condolences on Facebook.
Comfort Elisha, her friend, wrote on her Facebook handle, “No, na. What is really happening to Jossite and the Special Education department? We haven’t finished mourning Kefas Emmanuel, and now it’s Chalya, brutally killed in Kaduna during her morning jogging while serving her fatherland. May your killers know no peace, Chalya. This is too much to bear.”
However, the Kaduna Command’s Public Relations Officer, ASP Mansir Hassan, characterized the Corps member’s death as “tragic” while confirming the occurrence to reporters.
Hassan stated that the Commissioner of Police, CP Musa Yusuf Garba, had directed the Barnawa Divisional Police Officer and operatives to search for the Corps members’ murders during an emergency meeting of the command’s top hierarchy.
The police spokesman said, “It’s a very tragic incident. She was performing her early morning jogging (exercise) when some miscreants (phone snatchers) on motorcycles pounced on her.
“The victim’s name is Grace Chalya Silas. She was a Corps member serving in Kaduna South.
“When the case was reported to the police, operatives responded swiftly and moved to the scene of the crime, where they saw the victim in the pool of her own blood. She was rushed to the clinic, where she was later confirmed dead.
“Since the incident was reported to the police, the Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, CP Musa Yusuf Garba, held an emergency meeting with the top hierarchy of command over the matter. We are already in touch with NYSC in the state.
“The CP has directed the Barnawa DPO and Area Commander to immediately hunt for the killers of the Corps members and fish out the perpetrators of the dastardly act.”
