Two police orderlies attached to former House of Representatives member Joan Onyemaechi and her driver are feared dead following an attack on Tuesday evening in Asaba, the Delta State capital.
It was gathered that the gunmen stormed her church, King Jesus and I, located on Ogajifo Street off DBS Road. They shot two police orderlies and her driver before abducting the former lawmaker and her children.
Sources in the area reported that a stray bullet also struck a passer-by, who died on the spot.
A source said, “The gunmen stormed the church and immediately shot at the police orderlies and the driver. They then drove the lawmaker away in her SUV, firing indiscriminately in the street. Unfortunately, a stray bullet hit a young man, who died on the spot.
Onyemaechi was the immediate past Commissioner for Technical Education under Governor Sheriff Oborevwori’s administration before she resigned to allow her younger brother to return for the chairmanship position in the recently concluded council elections.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, SP Bright Edafe, confirmed the kidnapping incident but stated that only one police officer and one other person were killed.
He said, “Only a police officer and one other were killed; I do not know if the other was the driver. They took only her.”
Joan Onyemaechi represented the Aniocha/Oshimili federal constituency at the House of Representatives in 2015.
She also served as a lawmaker for the Aniocha South at the Delta State House of Assembly from 2007 to 2015. She was appointed by the Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, as the Commissioner for Technical Education before she later resigned earlier this year.
