Palpable fear has gripped the students of the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, Ogun State as two suspected cult groups went on the rampage in the last one week, killing four persons.The killings took place at different points in Oluwo and Adigbe areas of the Obafemi Owode Local Government Area, largely populated by students of MAPOLY.
The four persons killed were said to be students of the institution, causing other students to flee their hostels following the mop up of suspected cultists in the areas by the police.
Our correspondent gathered the killings were fallout of a supremacy battle which broke out two weeks ago between suspected members of the Eiye and Buccaneer confraternities.
It was further gathered 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, identified simply as Demola, was killed last Saturday on MacJob Street, 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 on Saturday, while the other was killed at Iyana Oloke.
The institution’s 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, adding that the arrests were arbitrary.
It was gathered 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, Adegbola Ifeoluwa, also described the arrests as ‘indiscriminate.’
Ifeoluwa 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 in the State Command, Muyiwa Adejobi, said nine students were being held in connection with the killings.
He explained that the residents had been facing security challenges in the Onikolobo and some other areas of the state, adding that the students should not abuse their status to get involved in cultism and attack police officers.
He said, “We have been facing security challenges in Onikolobo for some days because of cult clashes in the area and we will not fold our arms and allow the breakdown down of law and order.
“We will continue what we have to do within the ambit of the law and any cult member found will be dealt with.
If the students feel the police are not doing the right thing, they should follow due process and not take the law into their own hands.
“We have our targets, we know who we are looking for, we know the black spots and we will fish out the cultists. Any student wrongly arrested will be released after being questioned.”
He said those found guilty would soon be paraded by the State Commissioner of Police, Abdulmajid Ali.
