A 52-year-old French man, Nagnan Denis, and his 53-year-old wife, Mrs. Nagnan Mee Lavaud Liana, who were on a tour to Nigeria have been attacked by some armed bandits in Ebonyi State.
The incident took place in the night of Monday, June 1, 2015 in their home at Abomege axis of Onicha Local Government Area of the state.
Denis who was allegedly shot in the leg and sustained some machete cuts in different parts of his body subsequently gave up the ghost.
The state Commissioner of Police, Maigari Dikko, disclosed that 32 suspects have been arrested on Wednesday, June 3, 2015 in connection with the attack, adding that they were being transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, for further interrogation and subsequent prosecution if found guilty.
He further disclosed that the victims were tourists, who travelled through several countries to get to Nigeria.
Additionally, the attackers carted away about 1,150 Euros and N13,000 from the victims during the attack.
The commissioner said, “32 suspects were arrested in the early hours of this morning (yesterday) and they were currently being transferred to the SCID for investigation and screening.
“We got the report yesterday from the DPO of Onicha council about the French nationals, a couple; they were tourists who left their country in December 2014 and arrived Nigeria through Badagry on May 3.
“They passed through Abeokuta, Benin, Onitsha, Enugu to Ebonyi with their vehicle; they were passing through Ebonyi to Calabar, when the incident happened.
“They arrived Abomega in the night. According to the widow, her husband had complained that he was tired and since it was late, they decided to pass the night there.
“They did not report their presence to any law enforcement agents around, but decided to look for a place that has natural shelter and so they went two kilometres off the road to pass the night.
“They found a quarry site and decided to camp there. According to the wife, when they were at the location, a motorcyclist and another man asked them who they were.
“Unless investigation proves otherwise, we are thinking that the motorcyclist was the informant to the hoodlums because an hour after he left, three people came into the camp. By then, they had already erected their tent atop the vehicle.”
Dikko, who noted that the police headquarters and the French Embassy had already been communicated over the incident, said the deceased was shot by the hoodlums during an argument, and then further inflicted machete cuts on him, Vanguard reports.
According to him, arrangements are in progress to ensure that they take the corpse to France with immediate effect even though it has been deposited in an Enugu State mortuary.
He further reinstated the resolve of the police to curb the activities of hoodlums in the state.
