The Abia State University Uturu (ABSU), will go down in history of universities across the world as one of the tertiary institutions where some students learn how to kill their fellow students instead of reading their books to acquire degrees and diplomas, and subsequently contribute to national development and human progress.
On March 13, 2016, the university community woke up to the gory sight of two severed human heads which were kept on the lawns within the precincts of the university gate.
The human heads were those of two students of the university who were gruesomely killed on March 12, 2016, by suspected cultists. After killing them and severing their heads, the assailants reportedly put their heads on spikes and danced round the lawn before taking to their heels.
Meanwhile, the Abia State Police Command has spread its dragnet to arrest the perpetrators of this heinous act. According to the command’s spokesman, Mr Ezekiel Onyeke Udeviotu, the matter has been given accelerated investigation, adding that the Commissioner of Police, Joshak Habila, has given men of the command a marching order to arrest the perpetrators of the dastardly act.
The barbaric act has since attracted condemnation and reactions especially as the bloody act was committed by students whose major reason for going to an institution of higher learning is to be certified worthy in character and learning.
The two human heads were identified as those of Nwigbo Chukwuebuka, a 300 level student of Estate Management, and Samuel Ethelbert, also a 300 level, Political Science student.
The deceased were alleged to be victims of reprisal cult attacks. According to reports, the duo were members of “Mafia” cult group operating in the university whose colleagues last month allegedly killed one Collins Agwu, leader of a rival cult group known as ‘Burkina Faso.’
The gruesome killing of Agwu, was said to have taken place within the university’s gate; a spot where the good, bad and the ugly usually take place. The late cult leader was said to have been buried in his village in Arochukwu, Abia State on the same day some members of ‘Burkina Faso’ cult group allegedly killed Chukwuebuka and Ethelbert, and subsequently cut off their heads.
It was gathered that immediately after the burial of Agwu, a killer squad from ‘Burkina Faso’ cult group, was dispatched to the Chi-Doo Lodge, residence of Chukwuebuka and Ethelbert located near a forest on Afikpo-Uturu Road – about four kilometres away from the university – with a single mandate – to kill Chukwuebuka and Ethelbert.
It was gathered that immediately the assailants gained entry into the room of the two deceased students, they shot them several times on the head, chest and belly – even then the duo who allegedly wore amulets said to be resistant to gun shots, were not harmed.
It was further gathered that when the assailants were convinced that it will be difficult if not impossible to kill Chukwuebuka and Ethelbert through the barrel of the gun, they used axes to kill them, and subsequently severed their heads.
Some students, who reside within the vicinity where the killing took place, said that they heard the screams of the victims, adding that before they could come out to know exactly what was amiss, the assailants had concluded their bloody act and immediately left the scene.
According to Udeviotu, the assailants also injured one Samuel Umeaforo, a 300 level Political Science student, who is currently receiving treatment in an undisclosed hospital.
Reacting to the incident, the Abia State governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu condemned the incident in strong terms, describing it as an embarrassment especially in the light of the recent accolades won by the institution.
Ikpeazu who condemned the cult activities in its entirety, lamented
that the gory pictures of the two lifeless bodies with their heads severed have been a source of agony and mental torture to all well-meaning people who have respect for the value of life.
The governor who spoke through his chief press secretary, Godwin Adindu, described the incident “as a show of savagery which should not be identified with students who are going through a process of training in character and learning.
He maintained that such “trend of violence is capable of tarnishing the growing reputation of the institution as a top-most centre of academic excellence in Nigeria as attested by the performance of the students in the Nigerian Law School, and in other national competitions and awards.”
Governor Ikpeazu warned that such dastardly acts perpetrated by students in the name of cult rivalry can no more be condoned in the tertiary institutions in the state, stressing that Abians are peace-loving people who have respect for life.
“Cultism is an illegal practice which is outlawed in the country”, he said, and warned all such groups to stay clear of the schools in Abia as their activities now constitute a throwback to the gains humanity has made over the years in the march to progress and civilisation.”
He also charged parents and guardians to re-educate their wards on the dangers of enlisting into dangerous groups and indulging in violent acts which lead them only to self-destruction.
In his reaction, the senator representing Abia central senatorial district and former governor of Abia State, Senator Theodore Orji, said he was sad when news of the incident got to him, insisting the incident would not be condoned anywhere in the country. He warned that those who have no business in schools except to cause mayhem should relocate to other environments, and leave responsible and diligent students to read their books in peace and safety.
An ex-cultist, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the University has not in the recent past shown the political will to clamp down on cultists, or reduce their activities to the barest minimum.
He said that though most of the cult activities are executed outside the campus, the cultists remain students of the institution and their activities such as the present one will continue to mar the reputation of the institution.
He advised the authorities of the institution to use their internal intelligence group to fish out the cultists, and expel them.
“There is nothing secret about secret cults on campus. The members are known by some of the lecturers who are their patrons and by their room -mates and classmates who try to keep their distance from them to avoid their nuisance value.
“The university can sponsor and use effectively anti-cult groups in collaboration with religious groups to offer physical and spiritual protection to those who renounce their membership of cultism”, he advised.
The ex-cultist who said his experience at the Micheal Okpara University of Agriculture (MOUA), Umudike, where he was member of a cult group, before he renounced his membership, noted that the university has the power to decimate cultism, adding that members of the university community derive no benefits from the activities of cultists.
Meanwhile, the authorities of ABSU said they will collaborate with major stakeholders, including the state government, host community and security agencies, to check cultism in the institution.
ABSU Vice Chancellor, Prof. Uchenna Ikonne, last Thursday told newsmen that the gruesome murder of two undergraduates of the university on March 12, 2016, by suspected rival cult members, was condemnable, adding that the dastardly act, which jolted the university community, took place at a private hostel, called Chi-Doo Lodge, located near a forest on Afikpo-Uturu Road, about four kilometres away from the university.
SOURCE:TODAY
