Final Year Law Student Shot Dead

A final year Law student of the University of Benin, Benin City, Ronald Ogwum Ify, 26, has been shot dead by two gunmen at his Courage Hostel residence.

P.M.NEWS gathered that the assailants had trailed Ronald, a native of Kwale in Delta State, to his room. They later traced him to the back of his residence where he was about to start his portable generating set.

At a close range, the attackers shot Ronald in the head and neck. He slumped and died instantly on the spot. His colleagues who witnessed the movie-like attack on Sunday ran for their dear lives and some students sustained injuries as they tried to escape from the attackers.

One of the students at the hostel, Emma Okoli, later ran to the Ekosodin Police Station but he did not meet any policeman on duty.

He went to the Edo State Housing Estate where he reported the matter to the police. They later arrived the scene where Ronald lay dead.

The police then removed the corpse to the University of Benin mortuary for autopsy.

An aunt to the late Ronald, Mrs. B. Obi said the killing cannot be connected to cultism as the deceased was too gentle and fun-loving to be a cultist.

His father was said to be out of the country but his mother had been informed about the incident, it was gathered yesterday.

Contacted, the Edo State Commissioner of Police, CP David Omojola said he had not been briefed about the incident.

Meanwhile, many colleagues of the deceased expressed their shock and were upset on Monday when they were about entering the examination hall to write their final paper on Jurisprudence. His friends said he would have finished his Law studies in August.

As at the time of filing this report, many students had fled Courage Hostel where Ronald was killed out of fear of police harassment or further attack from assassins.

—Yomi Obaditan/ Benin City