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A 20-month-old child, Emmanuel Eleweke, has reportedly died after being struck by a stray bullet in Umuoba-Uratta, Owerri North Local Government Area of Imo State.
Prime9jaOnline gathered that the incident occurred around 10 p.m. on Monday under unclear circumstances.
Emmanuel, the third child of his parents, Mr and Mrs Okechukwu Eleweke, was with his mother at home when the tragic event happened.
In a tearful account, his mother, Mrs. Kelechi Eleweke, informed Prime9jaOnline source that the child had just finished dinner and night prayers with her before the incident.
“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 would 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.”
She said she immediately rushed out of the house with her son and sought help.
“My husband too got up, and we made efforts to get to a nearby private hospital,” she further said.
However, Mrs. Eleweke expressed frustration over the hospital’s refusal to provide immediate medical attention.
The woman, who was visibly heartbroken, said that instead of getting help from the hospital, the man that appeared like a doctor “demanded for a police report before treating my child”.
“According to her, in spite of our several pleas to him to rescue our son, the man simply ran a plaster round his head and asked us to take him to the Federal Medical Center, Owerri.”
She said she had to return home to dress properly while her husband proceeded with the child to FMC.
Narrating further, the child’s father, Okechukwu, said he eventually found transportation to FMC.
He said: “For the period we were in transit, I can say the boy was alive until we got to FMC gate. But getting into the emergency paediatric ward, the doctor on duty quickly examined him and pronounced him dead on arrival.”
The family said the origin of the bullet remains unknown. However, they later learned that gunshots were heard in the area the night of the incident.
“I didn’t know about the gunshots until this morning, when my neighbours talked about them. They said that some people were shooting around our area in the night. Whatever they were celebrating that led to my son’s death, we don’t know,” Okechukwu said.
A former youth leader in the community, Mr. Chika Ibeawuchi, confirmed there were gunshots but could not identify the source.
“I don’t know anything about the shootings, except that they lasted for more than 30 minutes. This is a tragedy. It has never happened before in this community,” Ibeawuchi said.
He added that police officers from the Owerri North Divisional Headquarters visited the scene and took the child’s body and father for investigation purposes.
He appealed to the authorities for a thorough probe into the matter to uncover the source of the stray bullet.
Efforts to get a formal statement from the Imo State Police Command were unsuccessful, as the spokesperson, DSP Henry Okoye, did not respond to calls or messages.
However, a senior police officer at the Owerri North Division, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the incident and said the matter is currently under investigation.