- Suspect in Police custody
- Victim went to pick Afang leaves
BY OUR CORRESPONDENT – Sunday, 19th October 2025, will remain an unforgettable tragic day for members of the usually bustling Bansan Osokom community in Boki Local Government Area of Cross River State as a local hunter accidentally shot and killed a woman he mistook for a monkey.
It what residents described as hunting expedition turned sour, reliable sources, who identified the deceased as Victoria Otu, said she was fatally fired at by the hunter, known within the community as Otu Goodness Kanang.
It was gathered Victoria left for the bush on that fateful day with high hopes of plucking Afang leaf, a popular leafy green vegetable, used in soups and stews, when she met her untimely death.
Reliable Sources quoted Kanang as confessing that after observing the shaking of a tree branch deep in the forest and aiming at what he thought was a monkey, his shot rang out only to be muffled by the sudden shrill cry that caught his attention.
On rushing to the scene, it was utterly shocking for him to discover having erroneously shot and killed a woman instead of the perceived bush meat that was initially in his view.
Available reports indicated that completely devastated by the fatal occurrence, Kanang raised an alarm calling for help before quickly leaving the scene on his motorbike for the Police station where he officially reported himself to officers on duty.
Thereafter, he was led back to the incident scene where some of the grieving locals assisted the Police detectives to evacuate the victim’s body temporarily to a local chief’s residence in the community.
Confirming that the ‘killer’ hunter is currently in safe custody at the Okundi Police station, Police authorities hinted that investigations have already commenced to determine the circumstances surrounding the fatal shooting.
One of the officers, who did not want his name in print for obvious reasons, told Forefront News that, “The suspect, who voluntarily surrendered himself to the Police has been taken into custody”, adding that “Normalcy has since been restored to the area, and there is no cause for panic given the cooperation the Police are receiving from the deceased’s family and community members.”
Competent family sources told Forefront News that the late Victoria, whose age has been put at between 29 and 31 years, was on Tuesday, October 21, taken for burial at her father’s village in Agba 1 village, located a few kilometers away from Bansan Osokom.
The family insiders, who gave the father’s name as Pauline Kichie Otu, further disclosed that the deceased was living with her paternal Uncle, Richard Bisong Obi, a retired Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Bansan 2 Eshie as of the time of her tragic death.
Meanwhile, with the family and Community members grieving over the unfortunate loss of the woman, whom many described as hardworking and struggling, some of the residents are urging relevant authorities to impose more stringent rules on hunting activities within and around forest communities in the State.
In their submission, increased oversight on hunting expeditions by locals would help prevent such tragic occurrences in the future.
