Panic in Imo as bandits kill, kidnap students

From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri

Bandits suspected to be Fulani herdsmen have kidnap some students of the Abia State University(ABSU) at Ihube, Okigwe Imo State while traveling from their location on Saturday.

The bandits were said to have also shot and killed another student of the Marist Comprehensive Academy, Uturu, Donald Edeh also from Abia State, while 3 others from the school sustained serious injuries on same spot.

Several motorists who ran into them were robbed alongside their passengers according to an eye witness.

The incident which occurred at the failed spot of the road at Ihube community in the Okigwe Local Government Area of Imo state, has thrown the entire people of the area into panic.

Management of Marist Comprehensive Academy our correspondent gathered has confirmed the death of their student in statement on Sunday morning.

The statement read “Some students from Marist Comprehensive Academy, Uturu, Abia State were attacked by armed bandits around Ihube road in Okigwe area on their way from a Final Religious Profession of some Marist Brothers.

“In the course of the robbery attack, one student in the person of Edeh Donald was shot and he later died.

“Three other students were injured. They are receiving treatment and they are responding to the treatment. We pray God to guide and protect Nigeria citizens.”

When contacted, the police spokesperson in Imo state, Michael Abattam, assured that the police has swung into action to arrest all those involved in the crime.

However, he added that the incident was a robbery attack and not a kidnap operation.

Their are also some conflicting reports that the bandits were Fulani herdsmen. Some sources from the area who do not want their names mentioned said that the attack is not different from those they have witnessed in the area in recent past perpetrated by the killer herdsmen.

Recall that suspected Fulani herdsmen had on June 10, 2021, kidnapped scores of travelers on the same spot. They were en route Owerri from Enugu when the bandits struck.

Similarly on April same year,they kidnapped a catholic priest, Izuchukwu Onyeocha, who is a professor of Sociology at Imo state University in Owerri.

But the priest was later released few days after and he was said to have confirmed that he was kidnapped by the killer herdsmen.