The body of a man was discovered beheaded on Tuesday at the Permanent Site of the University of Jos, Plateau State, North central Nigeria, with the assailants reportedly fleeing with the victim’s severed head.
The gruesome discovery prompted heightened security around the campus as police launched an investigation into the incident.
Several students and staff members of the university, including the institution’s Chief Security Officer, Mr Agama Tangni, confirmed the incident to PUNCH Metro in Jos.
Tangni said the deceased was neither a student nor a member of staff of the university.
“I can confirm that somebody was beheaded here. He is neither a student nor a staff member of the university,” he said.
He explained that although the victim was not affiliated with the institution, he was well known because he regularly visited the area for farming.
“The identity of the deceased is known because that particular spot where he was beheaded is where he used to farm. He usually came there very early in the morning,” Tangni said.
The CSO said preliminary findings suggested that the victim might have been specifically targeted.
“I don’t know whether the assailants had been monitoring him, but from the look of things, they targeted him, beheaded him and went away with his severed head,” he added.
According to him, the deceased’s relatives have been informed, while the body has been deposited at the Bingham University Teaching Hospital mortuary.
Tangni said the university management had been briefed and would issue a formal communication to members of the university community.
As of the time of filing this report, the Plateau State Police Command had yet to issue an official statement on the incident.
Efforts to reach the command’s spokesperson, DSP Alabo Alfred, were unsuccessful, as his telephone line was switched off.
Meanwhile, security has been reinforced around the university’s permanent site as investigations continue.
Source: Punch
