Unknown
gunmen on Thursday assassinated a lecturer in the Department of Accounting,
University of Calabar, Dr. Emmanuel Igbeng, by the entrance to his house in
Calabar, Cross River State.
The
incident, which happened at about 8.30pm at Asuquo Abasi Street, off Uwanse
Lane in the Calabar-South of the metropolis, has thrown the university
community into mourning.
This
is coming barely one week after Igbeng was awarded his PhD degree at the 30th
convocation ceremony of UNICAL.
An
eyewitness, Magdalene Bassey, said the incident happened within split seconds
as three gunmen came out from a waiting car while one of them shot the lecturer
on his neck at close range.
She
said, “They did not ask him any question, neither did they steal anything from
his car. They just came and shot him in the neck before retreating to their
waiting vehicle. They were three in number.”
Bassey
said that Igbeng and a lady who was in the car with him were rushed to a nearby
clinic where the lecturer was confirmed dead, but the lady was still alive.
Public
Relations Officer of UNICAL, Mr. Effiong Eyo, described the murder as a
shocking development, adding that it was sad losing a lecturer, let alone a
young man.
Meanwhile
the kidnappers of a lecturer in the Department of Zoology, University of
Calabar, Prof. Edet Ekpenyong, have made N2bn demand as ransom on first contact
with the family.
Ekpenyong
was kidnapped in the early hours of March 10, 2017 while on his morning routine
jogging exercise on campus.
According
to a source, the kidnappers did not open contact with the family until after
four days after when they demanded for N2bn as ransom.
The
source told Southern City News on Friday that further negotiations dropped the
ransom to N1bn, N200m and N50m respectively.
“At
least three persons have been arrested in connection with the kidnap. We are
making progress and we hope that the professor will soon regain freedom. They
initially demanded N2bn but later dropped it to N1bn. Just on Thursday, a
negotiation was reached but in the early hours of Friday, I learnt that the
amount has dropped to N50m,” he said.
It
was learnt that the university security agency is working with the police to
ensure the safe release of the abducted don.
Speaking
on the assassination of the lecturer, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr.
Hafiz Inuwa, said investigations revealed that the gunmen hanged around the
lecturer’s gate before his return.
He
said, “I am aware of the killing and the police got there in good time. From
the reports we got, the robbers were hanging around and opened fire on him
immediately he came. The street, from what we discovered, was a lonely one. We
have started investigation into the matter.”
On
the kidnapped university don, Inuwa simply said, “We are making headway.”
-Punch
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