Tragedy was on Saturday averted at the Federal University of
Technology, Owerri, Imo State, when an undergraduate of the institution,
identified only as Sydney Prince, jumped into a river in a bid to end his life.
Our correspondent gathered that Prince, studying Materials
and Metallurgical Engineering, is the leader of the “Man O’War,” a campus
security outfit in the university. .
An eyewitness identified as Stellamaris, an undergraduate of
FUTO, told our correspondent that Prince jumped into the Otammiri river, which
is within the school environment after making several phone calls.
She said, “While I and my friends were doing our morning
exercise at the Otammiri river bank, he was at the other side of the river
crying as he was making phone calls. We ignored him and kept jogging. But after
about 20 minutes, he jumped into the river. That was when he started shouting
and screaming for help from passers-by.
“He was struggling and gasping for breath. My friends ran to
the street to solicit assistance from people and immediately I saw his head, I
started encouraging him to hold on to a tree in the river. He finally lost
consciousness and was already drowning when professional swimmers arrived and
rescued him.”
A source close to the victim, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Prince
attempted suicide because he was frustrated by what he believed was unjust
treatment by the school management.
“The school management has refused to allow him graduate. He
has a lot of spill-over courses. And as the leader of the Man O’war, all the
allowances accrued to him in the last 12 months have been withheld. After
fighting cultists in the campus, it is very annoying that the school management
has been frustrating him.”
When contacted the university’s public relations officer,
Chike Ezenwa, confirmed that Prince was a student of the institution.
Ezenwa said he had yet to be briefed on the incident.
He, however, promised to get back to our correspondent. He
had yet to do so as of the time of filing this report.
Meanwhile, the new commissioner of police in Imo State,
Chris Ezike, has said the state police command lacks enough officers to tackle
crime in the state.
The CP spoke on Friday when he visited the state chairman of
the Council of Traditional Rulers, Eze Samuel Ohiri, in Owerri, the state
capital.
He said “When I arrived Imo on April 3, I discovered that
the 5,500 policemen we have are not enough. I would be partnering with the
vigilante group, the Imo Security Watch and all other security outfits in the
state in our collective resolve to reduce crimes in the state.
“The whole essence of governance is the maintenance of law
and order. When we have security, there would be abundant food, the private
sector would strive, there would be good
life and the economy and social life of the people would be assured.”
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