A graduation ceremony at the weekend turned sour as a female graduate of the Auchi Polytechnic, Edo State, Uloko Laurenta Apaume, was allegedly shot dead by a member of the Auchi community vigilance group.
It was gathered that the deceases, a Banking and Finance graduate, was allegedly killed on Friday night by a stray bullet from the vigilante, who was at the party to provide security for the celebrating students.
Sunday Sun learnt that the students, who wrote their last paper on Thursday, invited the vigilantes to help secure the place for a peaceful party organised to celebrate the successful completion of Higher National Diploma (HND) programme.
During the celebration, the vigilante as part of the celebration, fired into the air but the bullet failed to exit.
“The vigilante was lowering the gun to know why the gun failed to discharge the bullet after firing and in the process the bullet released itself without the trigger being pulled and accidentally killed the girl who was celebrating, on the spot,” an eyewitness said.
According to him, the development caused panic as the celebrating students scampered for safety. He also said that the suspects arrested by the police were still in detention.
The Edo State Commissioner of Police, Johnson Babatunde Kokumo, who confirmed the tragic incident when contacted said: “It was a female student of Auchi polytechnic who, having written her final exam, as is the tradition, was celebrating that she was done with school when the incident occurred. “The vigilance men, according to the report of the Divisional Police Officer on ground, had been invited by the students and it was in the night. It was clearly a misadventure; it was not an intentional killing as there is no record of any sort that there had been malice between the late student or any student for that matter and the vigilance men. “So, the vigilance man had an accidental discharge so to say, while the celebration was on. He is already in custody. That is what I can tell you for now, while we are doing all we can to pacify the students so that there would be no reprisal attack on innocent citizens.. The situation is under control. By God’s grace, there is no cause for worry.”
|Sun