One Feared Dead, Reporter Shot In Lokoja

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The Kogi State correspondent of The Sun newspaper Emmanuel Adeyemi has been shot.

Adeyemi was on his way to the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre in Lokoja, the state capital, when he was shot near the gate of the secretariat on Monday.

An unidentified person who was reportedly hit by a stray bullet around the Kogi Circle Roundabout reportedly died on the spot.

Adeyemi, at 10.18 am on Monday, posted warnings of shootings on the state correspondents’ chapel’s WhatsApp group platform.

He had written: “Gentlemen, there are sporadic shootings along Govt House Junction. I learned that there is a serious problem with youths and police along Zone 8 right now as they are bent on invading the govt warehouse located along that way.”

He was rushed to a nearby clinic within the premises of the NUJ Press Centre, from where he was referred to the Lokoja City Hospital.

Sources claimed that hired thugs instigated the attacks.

“The boys came around the Baptist Church Junction shooting sporadically. People around the area scampered for safety. We had to lie on the floor at home. It is like they are political thugs,” said a source.

The drive-by shooters whose bullet hit Adeyemi from behind also shot a passerby whose name could not be ascertained.

The other victim of the drive-by shooting on the Lugard Road, close to the NUJ state secretariat, was said to have just arrived from Benue State and was caught in the mayhem.

The sporadic gunshots in Lokoja followed the resumption of looting in another warehouse in the Zone 8 area.

A similar incident was recorded overnight when the Agricultural Development Project (ADP) warehouse where bags of fertilizers were stored was invaded and looted by hoodlums.