Residents flee as Police begin search for killers of UNIPORTstudent

Residents flee as Police begin search for killers of UNIPORTstudent

The Police Command in Rivers State has launched a manhunt of the mob
that beat to death four male students: Ugonna, Ilyod, Tekana and
Chidiaka of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) on Friday
morning andlater set them ablaze, after puttingcar tyres on their
necks, for allegedly stealing mobile phones and laptops.
The incident occured at Aluu community, beside UNIPORT, where most of
the students who could not secure accommodation on the campus reside.
Residents of the community have started fleeing to avoid
indiscriminate arrest by policemen, especially of innocent persons.
The Rivers Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ben Ugwuegbulam, a
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), in a telephone interview
confirmed that four persons were killed on Friday at Aluu for
allegedly stealing, but could not ascertain ifthe victims were
students of UNIPORT or not.
Ugwuegbulam also stated that the police command was investigating the
unfortunate incident, while warning residents of the state against
taking the lawinto their own hands.
The police spokesman urged members of the public to always make useful
information about criminals in their midst available to the command,
while assuring that their identities would be well protected.
It was learnt that the owners of the expensive mobile phones,
including BlackBerry and the laptops at the off-campus hostel,
complained to their friends over the loss of the items, thereby
raising the alarm, which attracted indigenes of Aluu and passers-by.
The missing phones and laptops were later reportedly traced to the
killed students, who were young men in their early 20s, and were said
to have denied knowledge of the development. Without being given the
opportunity to defend themselves,they were beaten to death and set
ablaze by the angry mob.
The horrible and blood-soaked corpses of the victims were later
deposited at the morgue of an undisclosed hospital in Port Harcourt,
the Rivers state capital.
UNIPORT's Deputy Registrar, Information, Dr. Williams Wodi, when
contacted yesterday for his reaction on the incident, said:"Right now,
I am not in a positionto confirm to you that the alleged victims are
bona fide students of UNIPORT, as is being widely speculated.
"The alleged incident took place atAluu village, about two kilometres
outside our main campus. We do not have responsibility for security in
Aluu communities, which are beyond our jurisdiction. The relevant
security outfits are working with our security department to establish
the true identities of the victims and what actually transpired on the
day of the reported incident.
"The Dean of Student Affairs (of UNIPORT) is also working round the
clock to establish their identities as students of UNIPORT.The
university will certainly issue a statement once preliminary facts are
laid on the table."
source:Nigeriaeye.com