Cultists Invade Edo Schools, Injure Many Students

 

Academic activities were disrupted at the Oba Akenzua Secondary School and the Ihogbe College in Benin-city, Edo State, on Tuesday when suspected cultists invaded the schools and injured many students with knives and cutlass.

Both the Ihogbe College and Oba Akenzua School are adjacent to each other and are located along ICE road off Wire road in Benin-city.

This caused pandemonium as teachers and students scampered for safety when the cultists started shooting and attacking students.

Eye witnesses said the suspected cultists were targeting some students in the schools who are members of junior rival cult group that threw stones at them.

The witnesses said the cultists stormed the school and started inflicting injuries on any student they sighted.

One of the students said to have been fatally injured was rushed to the hospital.

When journalists visited the school, there was heavy security presence as two of the suspected attackers who were arrested by the police were crying, insisting that they were innocent.

A resident in the area said cult-related attacks have been on the rise in the recent times.

However, the state Commissioner for Education, Mr. Emmanuel Agbale, said no student was killed in the attack, adding that policemen were quickly drafted to the area, and that the cultists were chased away, as he also noted that students of both schools have always been engaging one another in a fight.

Agbale said security would be beefed up in the area and that plans were on to merge both schools as one, ruling out the possibility of the schools being shut down due to the attack.