Academic activities were disrupted at the Oba Akenzua Secondary school and the Ihogbe College when suspected cultists invaded the school and injured many students with knives and cutlasses.
The incident caused pandemonium in the two schools which are adjacent each other and are located along ICE Road off Wire road in Bénin City. Teachers and students scampered for safety when the cultists started shooting and attacking students.
It was gathered that the suspected cultists were heading for a target in the area when some students who are believed to also be members of junior rival cult group started throwing stones at them. The witnesses said the cultists stormed the school and started inflicting injuries on any student and in the process, one of the students was said to have been fatally injured and was rushed to the hospital.
From the school, there was heavy security presence and two of the suspected attackers were arrested by the police but they were crying insisting that they were innocent. A resident in the area said activities of cult related attacks have been on the rise in recent times.
Edo State Commissioner for Education, Mr, Emmanuel Agbale, said no death was recorded in the incident and that policemen were quickly drafted to the area and the cultists were chased away. He stated that students of both schools have always been engaging in fight. He also added that security would be beefed up in the area and that plans were on to merge both schools as one. He however said the schools would not be shut down because of the incident.
