Nzubechi, who claimed that the Thursday incident was not the first time such incident happened also said that the police teargassed and shot at FUTO students while trying to rescue the bike man from Man O’ War.
The Imo State Command of the Nigeria Police Force, has said that the 22-year-old final year student of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), identified as Chinagorom Marvellous Kingsley, stabbed to death was not killed by an Hausa/Fulani bike man but by a 21-year-old 300Level student of the Imo State University (IMSU).
An X user, Maduagwu Nzubechi, @MaduagwuNzubec1 had on Thursday night made posts claiming that the FUTO student who was a member of the university’s Man O’ War Unit was stabbed to death by an Hausa bike man, and that the deceased student was rushed to the school’s medical centre but was abandoned, hence, students rushed him to the Federal Medical Centre where he was confirmed dead.
Nzubechi, who claimed that the Thursday incident was not the first time such incident happened also said that the police teargassed and shot at FUTO students while trying to rescue the bike man from Man O’ War.
“Bringing this very important but sad news to y'all please help us out, futo students are dying because of mismanagement. A futo student was stabbed by a bike person of northern extraction, he was taken to futo medicals and was abandoned there, his fellow students then took him to Fmc, now he's dead.
“It's not the first time. It's not the second time. Presently the police are shooting futo students to rescue the bike person from Man O’ War. Imagine. A murderer, the police is placing a murderer before the lives of students.
“This futo medicals staff and management has seen to the untimely of numerous students because of their nonchalance and incompetence, now we have lost another student to them,” Nzubechi wrote.
Also, attaching a video of the supposed deceased student, another X user, Starboy Vizzy, @Vizzyy_01 wrote in a post made at 2:26am on Friday that “On the 29th of Feb (yesterday) in FUTO a 400l student (ManOWar) was st@b by an Hausa bike rider. And police raided the girls hostel with tear gas.”
Starboy Vizzy further claimed that a girl was shot at a hostel and that some student fainted due to the teargas by the police.
The X user in another posts wrote, “The st@b student was rushed to FUTO medicals but he didn't make it. The other video shows where police were throwing gas inside & outside the girls hostel. While trying to evade the tear gas a student broke a leg and arm.”
Another X user, Regard Highkay, @RHighkay challenged @Vizzyy_01 to “Delete this rubbish false news,” but @Vizzyy_01 who insisted that the report was authentic said, “You telling a FUTO student that he's sharing false news.”
However, when contacted, the Imo State Police Public Relations Officer, Henry Okoye, said the narratives on the social media was false, saying that the misinformation is the handiwork of mischief makers who want to provoke unnecessary intertribal conflict between the good people of Imo State and the Northerners residing in the State.
The Police spokersperson in a statement made available to SaharaReporters said that the killer of the FUTO is a 21-year-old 300Level student of Imo State University identified as Francis Marvellous, who hails from Ehime Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State, who has been arrested by the police.
Okoye said, “Operatives of the Imo State Police Command have arrested an alleged 300-level student of Imo State University (IMSU) Owerri named Francis Marvellous ‘m’, 21yrs, who hails from Ehime Mbano LGA of Imo State for allegedly stabbing to death Chinagorom Marvellous Kingsley ‘m’, 22yrs, who is a final year student of the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO) and a member the University’s Man O’ War Unit.
“The arrest was a sequel to a swift response to a distress call received from the Chief Security Officer (CSO) of FUTO, retired DSP Patrick Egwu, by police operatives on convoy patrol who promptly arrested the suspect who was almost lynched at the scene by an angry mob.
“The body of the victim was recovered and rushed to Federal Medical Center, Owerri where he was confirmed dead and deposited at the mortuary.
“On interrogation the suspect confessed to the crime, admitting that he had a heated argument with personnel of the University’s Man O’ War Unit on 29/03/2024 at about 2200hrs during which he brought out a knife he neatly concealed in his trousers and stabbed the victim to death.
“He mentioned three others who were with him during the fight. They include his brother Francis Promise, Prince and a man popularly known as Soji.
“Efforts are on top gear to arrest the suspects at large and ascertain their involvement in the case. The suspect(s) will be arraigned in court upon completion of a comprehensive investigation by the State Criminal Investigation Department SCID.
“The Command therefore, is using this medium to dispel the false narratives making the rounds on social media that the victim was stabbed to death by Hausa Fulani/Northern, warning that the misinformation is the handiwork of mischief makers who want to provoke unnecessary intertribal conflict between the good people of Imo State and the Northerners residing in the State.
“Accordingly, the Commissioner of Police Imo State Command, CP Aboki Danjuma has directed the deputy commissioner of Police in charge of the State Criminal Investigation Department to take charge of the case and ensure that the suspects involved in this case and purveyors of fake news are arrested made to face the full wrath of the law.
“The Command calls on the general public, particularly the staff and students of FUTO to go about their lawful business as adequate security measures have been implemented to forestall any future occurrences and warned the students of FUTO to refrain from taking laws into their hands as investigation is in progress to bring the culprits to book.”