The management of Bingham University in the Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State on Tuesday said three students of the institution arrested recently in connection with a murder case had earlier been suspended from the school.
In a statement made available to journalists on Tuesday, the University’s Director of Public Affairs, Daburi Misal, explained that the alleged killing occurred after the suspects had been suspended for drug abuse by the institution.
According to Misal, 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.”
The FCT Commissioner of Police, Haruna Garba, had last Thursday paraded the suspects, Obasieyene Inem, Aaron Anthony and Alasan Olusegun, before journalists in Abuja and accused them of killing a Bolt driver.
Garba said one of the suspects ordered a ride on the Bolt App to take them to and from where they purchased Indian hemp.
He said on returning them to where they booked the ride, the suspects discovered they had no money on them, adding that they decided to trick the driver by showing him a fake 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 added that the Bolt driver’s insistence that he had not seen the alert resulted in an argument.
Garba said one of the suspects slit 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.