No less than four students of the Lagos State Polytechnic, Ikorodu, have suffered varying degrees of injuries following a clash with suspected cult members.
According to reports, the suspected cult members attacked a private student’s hostel on Monday, inflicting varying degree of injuries on some of the students.
The attackers were reported to have stormed the hostel pretending to be in search of a stolen laptop, however, occupants of the hostel facility were said to have repelled them, doubting the authenticity of their claim.
The repelled suspected cultist however came back to the hostel armed and in large numbers and were reported to have called out the name of a National Diploma student.
The confusion however led to four students of the institution sustaining injuries.
A witness who identified himself only as Bayo told Punch Metro: “When they first came in the afternoon, they said they were searching for a missing item. They said the person that stole it passed through the estate. We engaged them and they failed in their attempt to gain entrance.
“Suddenly, around a few minutes past 9pm, a larger group came and started calling the name of one of us in the hostel to come out.
“Immediately they called his name, we remembered that he once told us that some people were disturbing him to join a cult. Some of us went out and we asked others to stay with him in the hostel. Four of us were injured after confronting the cult members.”
Another eyewitness revealed that the four injured students had sustained the injuries while trying to defend others against the suspected cultists.
The president of the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria in Lagos State, Dr Saheed Ashafa, said: “Our members in Ikorodu were attacked by cult members in their hostel last night (Monday). According to the report sent to me early this morning (Tuesday), they were trying to initiate a Muslim student, so they wanted to intimidate students in the hostel where he resides to get their way.
“I was informed that they had been threatening him in the school with the support of a lecturer. They had access to the hostel at first by claiming that they were searching for their missing laptop. They later went there in a large number. Some students sustained injuries, but have been treated and discharged.”