Corps member returning from nightclub killed in Abuja

The life of a 25-year-old corps member, Charity Thilza, has been brought to an abrupt end three days to the completion of her National Youth Service Corps programme in Abuja.

The Borno State indigene was killed by some robbers along Wuse 2 Road while she was returning home from a nightclub in Carribean, Wuse 2, around 3am on Monday.

The ‘passing-out parade,’ which marked the completion of her one-year programme, would hold on Thursday (today). She studied Linguistics and English at the University of Maiduguri.

PUNCH Metro learnt that Thilza and four friends, identified simply as Lola, Bisi, Pooja (an Indian) and a man had attended a show at the club, where a hip hop artiste, Chibuzor Azubuike, popularly called Phyno, performed on Sunday.

They were said to be returning home from the party in a car the following day when the robbers gave them a chase.

The assailants reportedly shot at the car repeatedly and some of the bullets pierced through the windscreen and hit Thilza, who was sitting at the back. One of the friends, Lola, was said to have also sustained gunshot injuries.

Our correspondent learnt that the robbers retreated when they noticed that the driver of the car was heading towards a police station.

Thilza’s close friend, Thlama Bukar, said she was rushed to a hospital, but was rejected. She said she died on the way to another hospital that she was referred to.

Bukar, who spoke with PUNCH Metro on the telephone, said she was together with Thilza until Friday, when she (Bukar) returned to Maiduguri, Borno State, where she lives.

She said, “Phyno performed at the Carribean (the club) on Sunday. They were coming back home around 3am on Monday when they noticed that a car was trailing them. They took a detour, but  the car continued following them. The driver of their car started speeding and the robbers opened fire on the car. Unfortunately, some of the bullets hit Thilza from the back of the car.