KINGSLEY EBERE
There was panic within the school environment as a 400 level student of Federal University of Technology, ((FUTO) Owerri, Imo State, Chinagorom Marvellous Kingsley, was stabbed to death by another student, Prince Francis Marvelous, from the Imo State University (IMSU), inside the campus.
P.M.EXPRESS reports that the 22-year old late Kingsley was a member of Man O’ War at FUTO and was said to have gone for routine monitoring at the Hostel A junction with some of his members on 29th February, 2024.
While they were at the checkpoint at about 8:15pm, a bike rider carrying two others crossed the Man O’ War at the Hostel A junction. After few minutes, the bike returned to the junction and was halted by the officers on ground.
However, trouble was said to have started when the bike man, who claimed to be a Navy personnel carrying the two others on his bike, was stopped and the passengers were asked to come down but they refused and started shouting.
At that point, they were forced down from the bike. In the process, the suspect, Prince Francis Marvelous, stabbed the victim on the neck and was held by the other officers and detained while others escaped.
The victim was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre in Owerri but before the arrival, he was already dead as the Doctors certified him dead and the corpse was deposited at the mortuary for autopsy reports.
During interrogation, the suspect, Prince Francis Marvelous, was discovered to be a student of IMSU, studying English and Linguistics and was said to have come to FUTO that night with others to hit a target. The suspect was handed over to the Police at the State Command including the weapon recovered from him as exhibit.
This was confirmed by the Police Public Relations Officer, Henry Okoye, who stated that the suspect was almost lynched at the scene of the crime after a distress call from the Chief Security Officer of FUTO, Rtd. DSP Patrick Egwu.
He stated that the suspect confessed and named three other persons including his brother, Francis Promise, Prince and a man popularly known as Soji, as people that were with him during the fight.
Okoye said: “The arrest was sequel to a swift response to a distress call and on interrogation, the suspect confessed to the crime, admitting that he had a heated argument with personnel of the University’s Man O’ War Unit on 29/02/2024 at about 2200hrs during which he brought out a knife he neatly concealed in his trousers and stabbed the victim to death”.
“Efforts are on top gear to arrest the suspects at large and ascertain their involvement in the case. The suspect(s) will be arraigned in Court upon completion of a comprehensive investigation by the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID.”
The Police were yet to disclose what the suspect with others now at large went to do at FUTO at that period, which many students suspected had to do with cult activities in the campus, which led to the argument between them and the Man O’ War.