By Peter Onyekachukwu 
By Peter Onyekachukwu
Armed men suspected to be kidnappers have killed two teenage girls, Ajuma Simon and Omojo Shuaibu, from Okekwu village near Ogbogbo in Igalamela/Odolu Local Government Area of Kogi State.
The incident happened around 7 p.m. on Wednesday when the 17 and 18-year-old girls were ambushed while trekking along a bush path from a local market at Ega back to their village.
Residents said they heard the victims screaming for help during the attack, but rescue came too late.
A community member, Yahaya Edibo, a teacher and resident of Ogbogbo, said, “They only came to the scene to meet the victims already dismembered. As at the time we got to the scene, one of the victims was still breathing. She told us that the armed men came with the intention to rape or kidnap them. They started running to escape, but their assailants chased them for about 300 meters before they caught up with them, matchetted and butchered the girls beyond recognition. I know the girls, one of the victims, Omojo Shuaibu, was my ex-student at the UEC Secondary School Ogbogbo, a very brilliant and dedicated assistant head girl.”
Local security operatives and youths mobilized on Thursday to the scene of the incident and evacuated the bodies to a morgue in Idah, Idah Local Government Area.
The Igalamela chapter of Ukomu Igala socio-cultural organization expressed worry over the increasing attacks by armed men in the community and appealed to the Kogi State Government to provide adequate security.
Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Kogi State Police Command, SP William Aya, said operatives of the command have been deployed to the community to restore calm.