AkwaPoly students urge protection after cultists kill one, injure others

Aggrieved students of the Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic (AkwaPoly), Ikot Osurua in Ikot Ekpene local government area have decried the incessant attacks by armed hoodlums suspected to be cultists, and solicited security cordon around the school for safety of lives and properties of the students.

The appeal followed the tragic incidents at the weekend where a final year National Diploma (ND2) Electrical/Electronics student, Comrade Udeme Solomon, was brutally gunned down by unidentified gunmen who also escaped with his smart phone.

Another HND 2 Elect/Elect students, identified as Victor Odu, currently hospitalised, was also shot and fatally wounded in the face by the hoodlums.

A student of the same department, Etieno Bassey, who confirmed late Udeme’s killing, lamented that he eventually died “despite efforts by good Samaritans to save him.”

It was gathered that the remains of the slain student were hurriedly buried on Sunday in his hometown in Ika local government area of the state amid tears by his parents and colleagues.

Calling for a standby vigilante to work with the regular police in the school, a resident of Ikot Osurua, Ifiok Usen, disclosed that “unidentified group of boys have been operating mercilessly in the Polytechnic community at the late hours of the night,” and, therefore, advised the students to be extremely vigilant and avoid late night movements.

In the same vein, another student, who spoke on condition of anonymity, lamented, that “the situation in Ikot Osurua is critical.”

“On Friday night, one Victor Odu, an outgoing HND2 student in the Department of Electrical Electronics, was shot near the former Christ Embassy Church, along Ekani road. He underwent emergency surgery to remove six bullets from his face and is currently recovering,” he recalled.

Warning fellow students to be wary of night movements, the president of the department, Wisdom Nnamso said if the victims had taken personal security precautions, perhaps the sad incidents would have been avoided.

He, therefore, advised the students to “stay safe and vigilant.”

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Timfon John, who confirmed the developments assured that the Commissioner of Police (CP), Waheed Ayilara has deployed tactical operatives to fish out perpetrators to face justice.