A teenage girl, Veronica Kufre, who was one of the guests at a wedding ceremony at Nsukara Offot, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, was hit by a stray bullet discharged from the gun of an officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, on Saturday.
An eyewitness account has it that Veronica was sitting beside the operatives of NSCDC hired by the unnamed couple to guard the event when the incident happened, and she was immediately rushed to the hospital for treatment.
The eyewitness, who pleaded anonymity, said the incident occurred midway into the ceremony in the Nsukara community along Nwaniba Road, near the University of Uyo (UNIUYO) main campus.
He narrated: “The two officers hired to maintain peace and security at the event had joined other guests to free bottles of beer and other stimulants as the merriment continued.
“Unfortunately, the firearm was still in his hands when the sudden discharge occurred and sent the couple and other guests scampering, but he was quick to redirect the nozzle of the gun to the ground and pumped the rest of the bullets in, but the fragments had already hit Veronica Kufre, who was close to the security officers.”
Meanwhile, the victim has been admitted to the intensive care unit of an undisclosed private hospital after three hospitals were said to have declined to admit her, due to the critical nature of her case.
Spokesman of the NSCDC, Mr. Ukeme Umana, who confirmed the incident said the Akwa Ibom State Commander, Abidemi Majekondunmi, had been briefed.
