A stray bullet from a yet-to-be identified source has allegedly hit and killed a 20-month-old child at Umuoba-Uratta in Owerri North Local Government Area of Imo.
By Peter Okolie
A stray bullet from a yet-to-be identified source has allegedly hit and killed a 20-month-old child at Umuoba-Uratta in Owerri North Local Government Area of Imo.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the incident occured at about 10p.m on Monday.
The child, identified as Emmanuel Eleweke, was the third of his parents, Mr and Mrs Okechukwu Eleweke.
In an interview with NAN, the mother of the deceased, Mrs Kelechi Eleweke, expressed shock over the “mysterious circumstances” surrounding the boy’s death.
Narrating the incident, she said: “I was with him yesterday (Monday) night on my bed after dinner and night prayer.
“And one of my prayer points was that his father will not die premature death, and my son answered Amen.
“We got playing until he laid on my body to sleep.
“Suddenly, he rolled down from my body and lay on the bed.
“He refused to sleep, in spite of my effort to lull him to sleep on my body. Instead, he shrugged off from me.
“A few seconds later, I heard a huge sound and felt a splash of sand-like objects on my body.
“This was followed by my son’s scream for help as he persistently shouted mummy, mummy.
“The next thing I saw was blood all over his body and the bed.”
Eleweke said that she quickly carried him and rushed outside for help.
“My husband too got up and we made efforts to get to a nearby private hospital,” she further said.