It was a black Independence Celebration for a group of innocent students. At least 40 students of various institutions in Mubi, Adamawa State, were on Monday night killed in a prolonged shooting spree by unknown gunmen.
Reports said that the students of the Adamawa State University, Federal Polytechnic and School of Health Technology residing in the Wuro-Fatuji suburb, known for its high student population, were rounded up in the night and shot dead as they stood in lines outside their hostels.
According to some residents of Mubi, the shootings started about 11p.m. and lasted for more than one hour. Some of the victims were also stabbed to death. An official in the Information and Protocol Unit of the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi, who did not want his name mentioned, said that 26 students of the institution were among those killed in the attacks.
But an eyewitness said that over 40 male corpses, mostly students, were reportedly counted in the Wuro-Fatuji area, while scores that sustained gunshot wounds were said to be in serious condition.
It was learnt that the sporadic shootings kept residents of Mubi awake all night as many fled for their lives. Following the attacks, heads of the security agencies in the state, including the army, police and the State Security Service, SSS, were seen trooping to Mubi yesterday with reinforcements to address the situation.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Ibrahim Mohammed, confirmed the incident and said 25 students were killed, out of which 19 were polytechnic students, three from the School of Health Technology, one ex-military man and another security man. He said that the police did not rule out students’ connivance and involvement in the gruesome killings.
The PPRO explained that the nature of the killings was selective as houses were being pin-pointed and students selectively killed. Some reports suggested that the killing might be linked to student’s union election dispute, but other sources said the gunmen were terrorists.
You may wish to know that Monday’s killings came barely one week after the Joint Task Force, JTF, uncovered bomb factories and arrested 156 suspected terrorists in Mubi.
A resident said the 24-hour curfew imposed in the area, which was later relaxed to 3p.m. to 6a.m., might have provided the leverage for the gunmen to unleash Monday night’s mayhem.
A resident, who did not want his name mentioned, said that the attackers came in military uniform and asked the students to line up and then call their names. Some were then shot dead and others stabbed with knives and their bodies lined outside the buildings. He said it was not clear why some were killed and others spared.
But an eyewitness said that over 40 male corpses, mostly students, were reportedly counted in the Wuro-Fatuji area, while scores that sustained gunshot wounds were said to be in serious condition.
It was learnt that the sporadic shootings kept residents of Mubi awake all night as many fled for their lives. Following the attacks, heads of the security agencies in the state, including the army, police and the State Security Service, SSS, were seen trooping to Mubi yesterday with reinforcements to address the situation.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Ibrahim Mohammed, confirmed the incident and said 25 students were killed, out of which 19 were polytechnic students, three from the School of Health Technology, one ex-military man and another security man. He said that the police did not rule out students’ connivance and involvement in the gruesome killings.
The PPRO explained that the nature of the killings was selective as houses were being pin-pointed and students selectively killed. Some reports suggested that the killing might be linked to student’s union election dispute, but other sources said the gunmen were terrorists.
You may wish to know that Monday’s killings came barely one week after the Joint Task Force, JTF, uncovered bomb factories and arrested 156 suspected terrorists in Mubi.
A resident said the 24-hour curfew imposed in the area, which was later relaxed to 3p.m. to 6a.m., might have provided the leverage for the gunmen to unleash Monday night’s mayhem.
A resident, who did not want his name mentioned, said that the attackers came in military uniform and asked the students to line up and then call their names. Some were then shot dead and others stabbed with knives and their bodies lined outside the buildings. He said it was not clear why some were killed and others spared.
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