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By Adekunle Oluwafunmilayo
A heavy atmosphere of grief and rage enveloped the Itori-Ewekoro axis of Ogun State earlier today, as students of D.S. Adegbenro ICT Polytechnic blocked major transit routes in a massive protest following a brutal midnight raid on their off-campus hostels by unidentified gunmen.
What began as a quiet study night during ongoing semester examinations turned into a bloody ordeal, leaving scores injured, three critically assaulted, and a final-year student dead.
According to eyewitnesses, armed hoodlums stormed several student residences around midnight. The criminals broke into rooms, threatened lives, and locked traumatized students inside toilets while systematically looting laptops, mobile phones, and cash.
During the robbery, the assailants unleashed horrific violence on three of the occupantsthe First Victim Was shot directly in the stomach and eye.
Second Victim sustained severe physical assault resulting in a severed ear, which was callously taken away by the attackers and the third victim was a final-year student whom was also shot in the eye, who succumbed to the wound at the scene.
Speaking to Milestones Beats News correspondent Funmi Adekunle, Ewatomi, student residing in the same hostel complex of the deceased recounted the harrowing experience:
"We were studying late into the night because exams are ongoing when they encroached on our premises around midnight. They terrorized us, threatened our lives, and locked many of us in the toilet while robbing us of our phones, laptops, and money. It was pure terror, and we watched our colleagues getting slaughtered."
The devastation was compounded when surviving students rushed the bleeding casualties to both the institutional health facility and neighboring medical centers. Protesting students reported that doctors and medical staff were unavailable or refused to provide immediate emergency care, leaving the victims untreated during critical moments. Medical negligence compounds the tragedy.
The brutal attack has brought long-simmering tensions between the institution's student body and the hos
t community to a boiling point. Aggrieved students expressed unanimous disappointment in the traditional ruler (the Oba), accusing his leadership of bias and failure to protect non-indigenes.
Protesters cited a history of unaddressed grievances, alleging that the community leadership consistently shields local indigenes involved in the humiliation, assault, theft, and character defamation of students despite students paying steep local security fees.
Adding to the outrage was the perceived absence of school authority. Effort to engage the institution's new Rector proved abortive, as no key school administrators were present to address the grieving students during the height of the crisis.
Authorities intervened to escalate as student blockades brought vehicular movement along the Itori-Ewekoro highway to a standstill, security authorities intervened agencies and government representatives arrived at the scene to pacify the crowd.
Area Commander ACP, Yemi Williams addressed the traumatized students, pledging that security forces would track down the perpetrators, secure the release of any unjustifiably detained students, and bring the attackers to justice.
Government representatives sighted Hon. Awoso, alongside the Local Government Chairman and other dignitaries, personally engaged student leaders. Acknowledging the profound grief and systemic failures that led to the tragedy, Hon. Awoso appealed for calm to allow for government intervention and proper prosecution.
Investigations into the incident are ongoing as security personnel maintain a presence to prevent further escalation
