There was palpable fear in some parts of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, on Monday, when two public schools in the state engaged in a violent attack over the death of two of their colleagues, allegedly killed during an inter-schools’ gambling competition.
Our correspondent gathered that the incident involved Senior School Students of the Baptist Boys High School, Saje area, and students of Ilugun High School located within the Federal Housing Estate in Elega, Abeokuta.
They were said to have engaged one another in violent fight which lasted for several hours.
It was gathered that the students of BBHS invaded the Ilugun High School with various dangerous weapons, including guns, cutlasses, broken bottles and assorted charms to avenge the death of their colleagues allegedly stabbed to death the previous week.
The incidents paralysed commercial activities and vehicular movement in some parts of the state capital.
Shop owners, who had earlier opened for business, hurriedly shut down and scampered for safety, while vehicles and commuters also deserted the area for fear of being affected by the incident.
An eyewitness told our correspondent that the students shot sporadically in different directions and chanted anti-management songs to warn the Principal and teachers of the school to stay off.
One of the shop owners in the area, who managed to return after security operatives had taken over, explained that the students of the two schools were last week involved in gambling of which those of the BBHS won massively at the expense of their colleagues in Ilugun.
“The gambling, however, degenerated into a conflict, wherein two BBHS students were stabbed with broken bottles.
“One of the BBHS stabbed students died last Friday, while the second one died yesterday (Sunday). But the students of BBHS were not happy about the incident and that was why they came out in violent protest against students of Ilugun High School today.â€
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Abimbola Oyeyemi, confirmed the incident.
