Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia
It has emerged that a student was killed and three others injured at the weekend as hoodlums opened fire on a vehicle conveying students of Marist Comprehensive Academy, Uturu in Abia State.
The students of the famous school owned by the Marist Brothers, a religious congregation of the Catholic Church, were said to be returning from a religious event in Imo State when their vehicle ran into the hoodlums operating at Ihube, a community in Okigwe local government having boundary with Abia.
Abia State Commissioner for Information, Chief John Okiyi Kalu, made this known in a statement, saying that “Abia Government received the news of the attack with sadness”.
He named the dead student as Master Donald Edebut but did not disclose the identities of the injured ones.
“Abia State Governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, has directed the state Commissioner of Police, Mrs Janet Agbede, to, as a matter of urgency, liaise with her counterpart in Imo State to swiftly arrest the hoodlums and bring them to justice,” he said.
He stated that Abia State Government has also confirmed from the management of Marist Comprehensive Academy, Uturu, that the three students who sustained injuries from the attack had been treated and discharged while the parents of the deceased had been contacted.
Okiyi conveyed the sympathy of Abia government to the parents of the deceased, students, staff and management of Marist Comprehensive Academy, Uturu, “over this unfortunate incident in our neighboring state”.
However, he decried an initial report in the social media purporting that students of the Abia State University Uturu(ABSU) were the victims of the attack and that 10 of them were abducted by the hoodlums.
“We condemn in totality the attempt by agents of opposition political actors in our state whose stock in trade is spreading fake news to diminish the state,” he said.
The commissioner added that the false report “is not only untrue but also wicked and a creation of the evil minds of those who are ready to do anything in pursuit of their selfish objectives against the overall interests of the State”.
“The management of Abia State University, including the Vice Chancellor, Prof Maxwell Ogbulu, has confirmed that no student of the institution was abducted yesterday(Saturday) as against fake reports obviously sponsored by these (opposition) elements”.
