Students of the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, now live in fear as two suspected cult groups have gone on the rampage in the last one week, which has led to the death of four persons.
The killings took place at different points in the Oluwo and Adigbe, which is largely populated by the students in the Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State.
The four people killed were said to be students of the institution, forcing other students to flee their hostels following the mop up of suspected cultists in the areas by the police.
Our correspondent gathered that the killings were a fallout of a supremacy battle, which broke out two weeks ago among suspected members of Eiye and Buccaneer confraternities in the areas.
It was learnt that one Muraina Ibrahim, popularly called Elebe of ND II, Computer Engineering Department, was killed last Wednesday along the popular sap route while another ND II student of Mass Communication Department, simply identified as Demola, was killed last Saturday around MacJob in the Fowobi area of Abeokuta.
Identities of the two other deceased had yet to be ascertained as of the time of filing this report but one of them was reportedly killed at the Mango area of Oluwo also on Saturday while the other was killed at Iyana Oloke.
Meanwhile, the institution Public Relations Officer, Mr. Sulaiman Adebiyi, said he heard that two people were killed, “but it has not been ascertained if they were students of MAPOLY.”
He said eight students of the institution had been arrested by the police over the killings, but described many of the arrests as arbitrary.
Our correspondent learnt that the hostel where one of the victims, Demola, resided during the last semester, Power House, had been under lock and key for days.
One of the students leaders, who spoke with our correspondent, Ifeoluwa Adegbola, also described the arrests as ‘indiscriminate.’
Adegbola said, “The Police started raiding on Saturday; some were arrested at Q bar in Adigbe while others were arrested along the streets and bus stops.”
The Police Public Relations Officer of the state police command, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said nine students had been arrested in connection with the killings.
He explained that the police had been battling security challenges in Onikolobo and some other areas of the state, warning the students not to abuse their status and attack police officers.
punch