By Maurice Young-
The Nigerian army are desperately searching for a soldier who killed his girlfriend- a university student in Bayelsa State, Nigeria’s South-south, has been killed by her lover, a Nigerian soldier, who is said to have suspected that she was cheating on him.
The killer allegedly took Ugadu’s phone,(pictured) most likely to go through it and confirm the details of his suspicions. The killing has sent alarm bells to students in the country to avoid dating soldiers, The Eye Of Media.Com heard from sources on the ground.
The 23-year-old student, Jennifer Ugadu, was in her 200 level in the Faculty of Education at the Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, before she was brutally shot dead by the soldier, identified by the police as James Matol.
The police in Bayelsa State said on Tuesday in a statement that Miss Ugadu’s body was discovered on July 13 in her room after her friend stumbled on a WhatsApp chat in which the soldier admitted killing the student.
Mr Matol also vowed to commit suicide after killing her, according to the police. She was shot dead in her flat, the police spokesperson in the state, Asinim Butswat said in the statement.
A friend of the deceased alleged that Ugadu’s boyfriend, who is a military officer, James Azeez, was the killer.
According to the friend, she had given the key to the room where Ugudu’s body was found to Azeez when she travelled.
The Nigerian Army noted that it was ready to get justice for Ugadu and ascertain the true identity of the suspect.
A statement issued by the army spokesman, Onyema Nwachukwu, reads, “The Nigerian Army has been notified of a media publication, alleging that a jealous soldier killed his lover, one Miss Jennifer Ugadu, an undergraduate student, at the Niger Delta University, Ammasoma. In the report, it was alleged that the student was shot in her apartment by the suspect who is now at large.
“While the army commiserates with the family of the deceased, it is crucial to unambiguously state that there is no place for such barbaric act in the army. The army would ensure justice is served. The army has taken the allegation seriously and a joint investigation has commenced, while the effort to profile and ascertain the true identity of the suspect is ongoing.”
The slain student was last seen with her soldier boyfriend on July 11, the police said.
The army spokesperson, Onyema Nwachukwu said in a statement on Thursday that the army has “zero tolerance for any form of criminality”.
Mr Nwachukwu, a brigadier general, said the killing would be investigated and the soldier “made to face the full wrath of the law”.