The Abia Government says it has commenced an investigation into the death of a student of Abia State University (ABSU), who lost his life in a clash between rival cult groups.
A video of the gruesome murder of one of the institution’s students, Emmanuel Uche, allegedly by members of a rival cult group has been trending online since Monday.
Mr Okey Kanu, the state Commissioner for Information and Culture, made the government’s position known on Monday during a press briefing on the outcome of the State Executive Council meeting, held at Government House, Umuahia.
Kanu said: “It has come to the notice of government that there have been skirmishes in Abia State University, Uturu, within some student groups.
“Some videos have been trending online to the effect that a student lost his life in these skirmishes.
“As a responsive and responsible government, some remedial actions have been taken to restore peace and order on campus.
“Government has dispatched security agencies to take control of the situation at ABSU.
“Investigation in that regard has been instituted.”
The Commissioner charged students of all tertiary institutions in the state to avoid engaging in any form of violence and actions that could affect their lives and studies.
Also, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Mr Ferdinand Ekeoma, said that news filtered in that there was a cult clash in ABSU, saying government was yet to be briefed by security agencies over the killing.
“As a government, we’ve swiftly deployed representatives of the government who will interface with authorized persons to find out exactly what happened.
”At this moment, what we have heard is that it was a cult clash and we have not established the details of what transpired and once we do that we will update you,” he said.
Sources say the victim is a final year student of History and International Relations. Close also say that the deceased student had, before now, been evading his traducers, who were said to be hot on his heels.
However, he was said to have ran out of luck early Monday morning, when some gun welding boys ,believed to be members of a rival cult group on an alleged revenge mission ,stormed his Miracle Lodge on Uturu/ Isukwuato Road ,close to the University campus and brutally shot him dead .
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the Abia Police Command Public Relations Officer, Maureen Chinaka, said that the Police are aware that a student of ABSU was killed during a clash between rival cult groups.
Chinaka said: “Our officers, in collaboration with the military, swiftly responded and arrived at the crime scene, causing the culprits to flee upon sighting the police.
“The corpse was evacuated from the crime scene to the morgue and exhibits have been recovered.
“Investigations are ongoing and we will continue to update the public as we progress.”
