Achinya Terhile Timothy, a student of Isa Mustapha Agwai 1 Polytechnic (IMAP), Lafia, Nasarawa State, went out with friends to celebrate their sign-out day on September 6. Little did he know that some soldiers would send him to an early grave.

FIJ learnt that Timothy was a National Diploma (ND) 2 Mechanical Engineering student who was supposed to have graduated on Tuesday.

A student (they did not want to be named) told FIJ on Saturday that Timothy had gone to a hotel opposite the school campus on September 6 to celebrate when soldiers arrived to make some arrests.

The soldiers, led by Samuel Ejimba, a civilian popularly known as Levels, arrested and assaulted Timothy and at least five other students of the Polytechnic. Timothy’s school mates believe the physical abuse Ejimba and the soldiers meted out to him caused his death.

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“September 6 was sign-out day in IMAP. Before that particular day, the school had released a circular that banned sign-out within the school because of an incident that happened last session,” the source revealed.

FIJ gathered that the school had prohibited sign-out celebrations within the school premises due to some unethical and rude behaviours students displayed in the previous session.

So, after their papers on September 6, some students left the school premises and went to celebrate their sign-out days in the hotel opposite the school.

“I don’t know what transpired, but we were made to understand that some people saw some dead bodies in an army van. We only got to hear about it after some days,” the student told FIJ.

“Timothy’s father had rushed to school because they had been trying his number for days, but it was not connecting. So, the father had to rush from Benue State to Nasarawa.

“Upon arriving at the school, it was discovered that the army arrested about six IMAP students in that hotel. So, when they made the arrest, the information we heard was that one of the students passed away in their hands.”

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Timothy’s death has led students to fear for their safety. “Anything that involves security matters like this, students panic. But the majority of students have finished writing exams. To the best of my knowledge, nothing like this has ever happened before,” the source said.

According to this student, while Timothy’s corpse had been deposited in the mortuary, five of the students were still receiving treatment in the hospital.

He also noted that, although military personnel were often stationed at the school to enhance the security of students, these particular soldiers were invited by a civilian for unknown reasons.

“We normally have soldiers around our school who normally protect students. But these particular ones, the person contacted soldiers outside the school environment. We learnt that they brutalised the students. As things stand now, the army has not taken responsibility,” the student said.

“The school management said they were on top of the matter. The commissioner of police has been informed. The police said they were investigating to unveil the truth.”

Meanwhile, the students’ union government (SUG) at the IMAP and the National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS) have issued statements demanding justice for Timothy.

In its statement dated September 12, the SUG at IMAP disclosed that Ejimba “was seen on a bike with soldiers moving around off-campus to point out some students by the same soldiers on September 6, 2024”.

The SUG said it would not allow the injustice against Timothy to go unchallenged. In the same statement, the national body for polytechnic students called for the immediate arrest and prosecution of those involved in the incident.

Nwachukwu Onyema, the spokesperson for the army, could not be reached for comments on Saturday. Onyema had not responded to FIJ’s messages sent to him via SMS and WhatsApp at press time.

Abimbola Abatta is a reporter with FIJ, writing reports in partnership with Report for the World which matches local newsrooms with talented emerging journalists to report on under-covered issues around the globe.