Three students of the Osun State College of Health Technology, Ilesa, have been hospitalised after sustaining gunshot injuries.
The students were reportedly attacked on Sunday, July 23, 2023, at a barber’s shop in Amuta Junction, Ilesa, where the victims had gone to charge their mobile phones.
According to the school sources, the victims, a male student and two ladies, had to be rushed to the Osun State University Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, for treatment.
"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," a source who preferred not to be mentioned in this report, was quoted as saying, hinting that the incident may not be unconnected to rival war between cult groups.
Kehinde Adeleke, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Osun State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), confirmed the shooting, saying the details of the perpetrators remained unknown.
"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," Adeleke stated as he confirmed the tragic incident.
Meanwhile, operatives of the Anti-Cultism Unit of the State Police Command and members of Nigeria Hunters and Forest Security Service in Osogbo, have arrested four suspected cultists.