A 400-level student of the Department of Political Science, University of Benin, Austin Izu, has been shot dead by yet-to-be-identified gunmen in his friend’s off-campus hostel room on the Federal Girls College Road, Ugbowo

EIH gathered that the deceased, who sat his final examination last week, was alleged to have come from the upper floor of the hostel to visit his friend, Walter Emaka, who stays on the ground floor of the same hostel.

The gunmen were said to have come into the room and shot the deceased in the head, while Walter narrowly escaped with gunshot injuries.

A source in the school, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told our correspondent that the case was reported at the BDPA Police Station under the Ugbowo Division.

“I know the deceased. His name is Austin, a Political Science student, who signed out last week. He resided on Adolor Road. He just went to visit his friend when the incident happened. The case has been reported at the BDPA Police Station and his injured friend is on admission at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital,” the source stated.

When contacted, the Public Relations Officer, UNIBEN, Dr Benedicta Ehanire, said she learnt of the incident, but insisted that no student was killed.

“We learnt of the attack. The boy (Walter) is in hospital receiving attention. No student was killed,” she said.

However, the Edo State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Kontongs Bello, confirmed the incident, adding that investigation was ongoing to arrest the perpetrators.

Bello stated, “The case was reported by someone in Ugbowo. He came to the station with the lifeless body of one Austin Izu.

“We visited the scene of the incident. It was gathered that four armed men wearing face masks entered the room and shot at the deceased and one Walter Emaka. Emaka was shot in the upper arm and is responding to treatment at the UBTH. Four expended cartridges were recovered from the scene with photographs taken.

“The corpse has been deposited in the UBTH mortuary for autopsy and preservation. Investigation is on to arrest the suspects. The case will be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department.”

Similarly, a student of the Computer Engineering Department of UNIBEN, Joshua Oginigbo, was shot on the main campus in Ugbowo on Monday in what is suspected to be a cult-related attack.

The PPRO told Nationnewslead that the attack took place in the June 12 area of the campus, adding that one Eromase Confidence of the Department of Educational Management had been arrested in connection with the incident.

“Around 5.04pm, the Chief Security Officer of UNIBEN main campus, Ugbowo, Mrs Osa Osifo, called that a student named Joshua Oginigbo of the Computer Engineering Department was shot in the June 12 area of the campus. She visited the scene and reported that the victim was shot in the head and he was rushed to the UBTH for treatment and is currently responding to treatment.

“A suspect, Eromase Confidence of the Department of Educational Management, was arrested. The case will be transferred to the Police Anti-Cultism Section for investigation.”

 

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has released the results of candidates who sat in more than 720 CBT centres for the 2021 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination conducted between June 19 and June 22.

Dr Fabian Benjamin, JAMB Spokesperson made this known in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja on Friday.

Benjamin advised each concerned candidate to check his/her result by sending UTMERESULT to 55019 through the GSM number used by each candidate to obtain profile code and UTME registration with the board.

He said that their results would be relayed to them immediately after following the instructions given to check results.

He added that the results for subsequent days would however be released daily.

“ The Board notes with satisfaction that the utilisation of NIN (National Identification Number) has helped in curbing examination malpractices as the 2021 UTME has recorded the least incidence of irregularities since the inception of the CBT examinations.

“ Nevertheless, the Board would still review all the CCTV footages and other technical gadgets for detection of possible examination misconducts.

“Extremely comparatively few results are being withheld for further investigation,” he said.

He, therefore, said that the Board would not hesitate to withdraw the results of any candidate subsequently found to have committed any form of examination misconduct.