Poly students set suspected cult members ablaze
With the resurgence of cult activities in the nation’s tertiary institutions of learning, a whirl of violence swept through the Ondo State Polytechnic, Owo, yesterday, leaving five suspected cult members dead.
Also yesterday, a second year female student of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, was allegedly assaulted by her colleagues who shaved her pubic hairs.
The outbreak of violence in the Ondo Polytechnic which was the third in the town within one week, led to the closure of the institution.
Trouble reportedly started at the Polytechnic when the student population early yesterday morning mobilized themselves to seek the release of a first-year female student who was said to have been abducted by a cult group since last Tuesday.
Their search, took them to the off-campus residence of a suspected cult member who, although confessed to being one of the kidnappers, refused to disclose the whereabouts of the abducted student.
Amid the exchange of words, the students in a moment of blind fury, suspecting that the abducted student might have been killed and dumped somewhere, decided on instant justice. They marched the suspected cult member to the main gate of the institution, where he was tied down, drenched in petrol and set ablaze.
Searches for the other cult members took the students to various halls of residents, mostly located off-campus, where four other suspects were given the same treatment.
Around 3 p.m. yesterday witnesses said the remains of the first suspect were still smouldering at the campus entrance.
In the ensuing pandemonium, most of the students, especially the females, fled the campus while Owo residents who had wards in the school were said to have gone to the institution to rescue their children.
Only last month, the institution’s acting Rector, Bolu Ogundowole at a press conference in Akure to mark his first anniversary in office, said the student Cadet Corps, which the authorities gave the mandate of stamping out the menace of cultism, were being encouraged on all fronts.
Expressing the belief that some of the cult members were not, in fact, students of the institution, the Rector said, “all hands are already on the deck to keep the students busy with sporting activities on campus.”
Last year a member of the student corps was shot in both eyes, leaving him totally blind in a suspected reprisal attempt by cult members.
At the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, it was learnt that the gang leader, a female, borrowed the sum of N5, 000 from the victim, after which she refunded N4,000 and refused to make up the balance of N1,000. When the victim demanded her money, the gang leader threatened her life. She reportedly invited the victim into her room, where other assailants were waiting.
As soon as the victim appeared, they pounced on her and shaved her head and pubic hairs with a blunt razor blade and scissors. They gave her severe cuts all over her body, before forcing her outside the room, naked.
Residents in the area confirmed that the lady walked along the street naked, while onlookers who attempted to help her were attacked by the assailants, even as they shouted “thief!” after her.
The Senate President of White House, Mr. Kingsley Ezeoma, also confirmed the report, stating that the misunderstanding was a result of N5,000 borrowed from the victim. The victim is said to be receiving treatment at a private hospital in Awka.
Recently, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka was thrown into an orgy of violence that began with the assassination of the Chief Security Officer of the institution. The culmination of the violence was when some students allegedly snatched three vehicles including a Mercedes Benz V-boot at gunpoint, drove into the university and began shooting indiscriminately. This bout of violence left in its trail, 18 dead students and many others who were injured.
The violence on the campus is worsening despite some measures the Federal Government has deployed to tackle the menace of cultism. For instance, President Obasanjo gave out some financial leverage to enable federal universities checkmate cultism.