Gunmen suspected to be cultists have shot three students of the Osun State College of Health Technology, Ilesa.
The incident occurred on Sunday at a barber’s shop near the institution, in Amuta Junction, Ilesa.
It was gathered that the victims had gone to the shop to charge their mobile phones when the gunmen attacked, causing a male student and two females to land in a hospital after getting shot.
They were said to have been rushed to the Osun State University Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, for treatment.
According to a student of the college, who spoke on condition of anonymity, what led to the shooting could not be immediately ascertained.
The student, however, added that the shooting is connected to a war by rival cult 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.
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Confirming this, the Public Relations Officer of Osun State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Kehinde Adeleke, said details of the perpetrators of the crime were not known yet.
Adeleke said, “On Sunday, July 23, 2023, around 9 pm, 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, the police in the state have arrested four suspected cultists.
The arrest was carried out in a joint operation with members of Nigeria Hunters and Forest Security Service in Osogbo.
A resident of the Olugunna area of Osogbo, where the suspects were nabbed, said 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.