Charm contest: Secondary school student stabs colleague to death in Ekiti

ADO Grammar School in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital has become a ghost town following the stabbing to death of one of its students, Favour Matthew, in a fight with his colleague.

Matthew said to be 16 years old and in SS2, had died from the stab wound he received when he engaged Timilehin Kehinde, a SS3 student, in a fight in one far corner of school premises, after closing on Thursday.

Some of the workers in the school claimed that the two students had started with a quarrel over the ownership of a football during school hours on Thursday, but had shifted what they described as “the main fight” to after school hours, later the same day and had used weapons and charms on themselves.

Witnesses also alleged while relaying the events, that the deceased Matthew had run home to arm himself, and had returned to school after school hours with axe and machete wrapped in red and white pieces of cloths, and charmed rings with which to continue the fight.

The workers further alleged that Kehinde had welcomed the fight which had, by now, degenerated to a juju contest because he was allegedly stabbed without getting injured.

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However, when Kehinde used the same weapon on Matthew, he slumped and later died at the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH) in Ado Ekiti.

The incident has led to the closure of the school by its authorities following alleged threats by the relations of the victim that they were coming to the school for a retaliatory attack, on Friday.

Meanwhile, the police have deployed men at the school’s main gate to forestall further breakdown of law and order, and to also nip any planned reprisal attack in the bud. The main gate of the school has also been locked, while armed policemen were also seen manning the back and other flanks of the school premises.

Teachers were seen standing in groups in the compound while the students who had earlier reported to school were sent back home.

The principal of the School, Mr Ebenezer Falayi and his Vice, Mr Olurotimi Olaoluwa, while speaking on the incident said they found that it had started at about 2.15pm at a far section of the school compound after the school had closed for the day.

Falayi said they had concluded the day’s closing assembly with the students and that they had been dispersed before noise from the troubled section of the school brought his attention to the development.

He said they found that the victim had been stabbed and teachers mobilised, went to the scene of the fight to ferry the injured Matthew to EKSUTH.

Falana said: “This incident really saddened us because it could have been avoided. What I gathered from students who were at the spot of the incident was that the duo had argued over who had superior power.

“The deceased had earlier gone home to bring all those weapons which I learnt could not pierce the suspect when they were used on him.

“I was told that Kehinde later overpowered Matthew and collected those weapons and stabbed the victim in the chest. Our teachers, including myself, my Vice and the Registrar alongside other teachers who were resident on campus here rushed him to EKSUTH. We even took the suspect along.

“The victim was put on life support, but that could not help the situation. He died in the hospital. I had to quickly call the DPO of the Odo Ado police station. He mobilised his men and contacted police station at Oke Ila to prevent the suspect from being killed by the highly enraged deceased’s family members.

“At the hospital, they insisted on carrying out the autopsy before releasing the corpse but the family resisted it. They later released the corpse to the family when it nearly caused trouble at the hospital.

“The police also took the suspect into custody. But I had to beg for security beef up around the school when there was a threat that 30 students will be killed in reprisal attack today (Friday).”

A police source at the Odo Ado police station said the suspect had been taken into custody at the Criminal Investigation Department of the state’s police command, saying that the intervention of the police doused the tension caused by the incident.

The police source said the student “cannot be more than 16 years of age and he didn’t even know that his colleague had died in the hospital, because he asked about his health when we took him into custody.”

The Public Relations Officer of the Ekiti Police Command, Mr Caleb Ikechukwu, when contacted, however, said he has not been officially briefed about the incident.