Three students of the Osun State College of Health Technology, Ilesa, have been shot by gunmen suspected to be cultists near the institution’s campus.
The incident reportedly occurred on Sunday at a barber’s shop in Amuta Junction, Ilesa, where the victims had gone to charge their mobile phones.
Sources in the school told PUNCH Metro that the victims, a male student and two females, after being shot at, sustained serious injuries and had to be rushed to the Osun State University Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, for treatment.
A student of the college, who spoke on condition of anonymity, during an interview with our correspondent on Monday, said what led to the shooting could not be immediately ascertained.
He, however, said the perpetrators were believed to be cultists engaged in fraternity war with some rival groups in the area.
“I don’t know what led to the shooting but we heard gunshots at a barber’s shop in Amuta where the three students had gone to charge their mobile phones.
“When we got to the scene, the male among them was the first I observed. He was shot in the stomach. He was not dead as of the time he and the other victims, who are ladies were moved to a hospital in Osogbo for treatment,” the source said.
The Public Relations Officer of Osun State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Kehinde Adeleke, who told our correspondent that the incident was reported, said details of the perpetrators of the crime were not known yet.
Adeleke said, “On Sunday, July 23, 2023, around 9pm, it was gathered that three students (one male and two females) of the Osun State College of Health Technology, Ilesa were shot by unknown gunmen when charging their phones at Amuta junction.
“The students sustained high degrees of bullet injury. The victims have been rushed to Uniosun Teaching Hospital Osogbo by the Amuta community. The students were later referred to OAU Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife.”
Meanwhile, four suspected cultists have been arrested by operatives of the Anti-Cultism Unit of the State Police Command and members of Nigeria Hunters and Forest Security Service in Osogbo.
A resident of the Olugunna area of Osogbo, where the suspects were nabbed, told our correspondent that members of rival cult groups were preparing to attack one another when a hunter passing through the area spotted them and alerted the police.
He added that during the joint raid on the hideout of the suspects, one man carrying a locally-fabricated gun was arrested.
“It was the information given to the team by a cultist that was arrested earlier that led to the arrest of another three.
“All four suspects were arrested at the Olugunna area of Osogbo on Sunday. Operatives of Anti-Cultism Group of Osun Police Command and the members of Nigeria Hunters and Forest Security Service carried out the raids,” he said.
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Yemisi Opalola, confirmed the arrest, saying that operatives of the anti-cultism squad raided the area.
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