Bingham University‘s administration in Nasarawa State’s Karu Local Government Area announced on Tuesday that three students arrested lately in connection with a murder case had previously been suspended from the college.
Daburi Misal, the University’s Director of Public Affairs, explained to journalists on Tuesday that the alleged homicide occurred after the suspects were suspended by the institution for drug abuse.
Misal stated that the statement was in reaction to viral social media reports on the arrest of the suspects for the alleged crime, by authorities of the Federal Capital Territory Police Command.
He said, “The management of Bingham University hereby expresses its profound sadness over the development and states that the affected students were in March 2023 identified through the university’s zero-tolerance policy on drugs and suspended from the university for being in possession of marijuana and other illicit substances.
“As required by our regulations, the students should have been taken to a rehabilitation centre by their guardians and taken back to the university only after their certification by the university’s psychiatrist.
“It was therefore shocking to see that the students who were supposed to be in rehabilitation were being paraded by the police in Abuja.
“The university however pledges its full cooperation with the police in their investigation into the matter while expressing its deepest sympathy to the family of the deceased.”
Haruna Garba, the FCT Commissioner of Police, presented the suspects, Obasieyene Inem, Aaron Anthony, and Alasan Olusegun, before press in Abuja last Thursday, accusing them of killing a Bolt driver.
Garba stated that one of the suspects used the Bolt App to request a ride to and from the location where they obtained Indian hemp.
He claimed that when the suspects returned to the location where they had scheduled the transport, they realised they had no money on them and chose to deceive the driver by giving him a false debit alert on their phone.
He said, “On June 5, 2023, around 8.30 pm, one Obasi Okeke was discovered lying in his pool of blood with a slit throat at Ngugu Close Area 11 Garki, Abuja.
“The painstaking investigation to ascertain those behind this dastardly act led to the arrest of the three suspects namely Obasieyene Inem, Aaron Anthony and Alasan Olusegun.
“In the course of the investigation, it was discovered that the deceased was a Bolt driver who was called by one of the suspects to convey them to the Guzape Area of Abuja where they had visited to buy Indian hemp. Back from Guzape to their take-off point, they discovered they had no money to pay for their trip, so they decided to play a fast one by showing the deceased a fake debit alert on their phone.”
He went on to say that the Bolt driver’s argument that he hadn’t noticed the alert led to an altercation.
Garba claimed that one of the accused cut the Bolt driver’s throat.
“The deceased insisted he had not received any alert. In the ensuing argument, one of the suspects slit the deceased’s throat and fled the scene. The three suspects have since confessed to the crime and will be charged soon,” he added.
