Two Lagos State University (LASU) students, who have not yet been named, were allegedly injured by a stray bullet on Monday after an attempted robbery at a residential area for students, known as PPL in the Ojo area of the state.
PUNCH Online had earlier reported that the victims had been hit by stray bullets outside the school campus when they went to purchase food around 8 pm.
An X user, posting as #belikebaddy, said, “Two students have been shot at PPL, Ojo, Lagos. Please, students of LASU, stay indoors and don’t go out”.
Commenting on the tweet, a Senior Special Adviser on Students’ Union Affairs to Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Kappo Olawale confirmed the incident, adding that he was in touch with the varsity’s Student Union President, whom he claimed had told him that the victims were in a stable condition.
“I have kept in touch with the President of the Student Union. The information passed just now is that the students have been stabilised. The Dean of Students (Affairs) was also on the ground to ensure they were properly attended to. Thanks to God!”, he tweeted.
According to a university student who spoke to The PUNCH on Monday on the condition of anonymity because she was not permitted to comment on the subject, the students before being struck by the stray gunshots went to buy lunch.
In a video, one of the victims, who looked to be female, was shown lying on a bed with her shirt drenched in blood.
“It happened around 8 p.m. at PPL. They went to get food outside, when they heard gunshots, and they ran away. When they got home, they observed that the bullets had hit the male on the neck and arm.
“Due to the bleeding, he was rushed to the LASU Health Centre, from where he was rushed again to the Igando Medical Hospital. He’s already responding to treatment”, the source said.
In contrast to the previous report, a member of the state police tactical team in PPL who spoke to The PUNCH over the phone under the condition of anonymity because he lacked the authority to comment on the matter, rejected the number of the victims mentioned by the students, stating that only one student was struck by a stray bullet during the incident.
Speaking on the incident, the cop said, “Members of the tactical team along with the Chief Security Officer of the school are already at the scene. As we speak right now, they are there with other team members. The suspects ran away.
“The boy they said they shot had a bullet wound; they advised him to go to the hospital. They detailed people to take him to the hospital. We are on top of the matter.
“Those people (the suspects) that came are not people that live in PPL. They came from outside. We are working on it. It was only one student who got injured. They are not two (as widely reported)”.
The cop further said the incident was suspected to be “students’ robbery”.
“They came to harass some people and try to rob them of their phones. That was suspicious yesterday (Monday). We don’t know whether the situation has changed today (Tuesday).
When the Lagos State Police Command was phoned to find out more about the incident, the spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin, instructed to text him instead.
He had yet to respond to the inquiry as of the time of filing this report.
