Gunmen suspected to be cult members on Sunday reportedly
murdered a fresh graduate of Madonna University, Okija, Anambra State in
Owerri, the Imo State capital.
The victim, Kelechi Ibezunma, was a 2016 graduate of
Physiology of the University who reportedly came to visit his friend, an
undergraduate of Imo State University, Owerri, whose identity had yet to be
identified as of the time of filing this report.
Eyewitnesses said that the incident occurred around 8:50 pm
between Steve Jane Hostel and Obama hostel, at Aladimma Street, popularly
known as IMSU back gate.
The sources said that the gunmen believed to be undergraduates
of the University had invaded some hostels around the back gate area with
guns and robbed the students of their phones, laptops and other electronic
devices.
On their way out, the eyewitnesses disclosed that the gunmen
reportedly accosted Ibezunma, who had allegedly gone to a nearby shop to buy
bread and milk for his dinner.
They said that on accosting Ibezunma, the gunmen requested him
to surrender his phone to them, but he reportedly refused, prompting them to
shoot him immediately, took the phone and fled the area.
He was reportedly rushed to Federal Medical Centre, Owerri,
where he died after the doctors on duty reportedly refused to attend to him.
One of the sources said “a student of Madonna University,
Okija, Kelechi Ibezunma, was shot dead by 8:50 pm last night after he refused
to surrender his phone to some group of armed boys in between Steve Jane
Hostel and Obama Hostel”
The President of Obama hostel, Paul Onwuzuruike, told our
correspondent on the phone that they had to discover the deceased’s identity
through an identity card they found in his possession.
Onwuzuruike said that none of the students in the hostel knew
the fresh graduate or where he hailed from. He said that his details had been
given to the policemen at Orji Police Division for identification by any of
his relatives.
When contacted, the spokesperson for the police in the state,
Andrew Enwerem, said that he had yet to be briefed.
