UNIBEN Reacts to Fatal Shooting, Describes Incident as Off-Campus Violence

The evening traffic around the University of Benin’s Ugbowo gate was supposed to be ordinary. Students were returning to hostels after lectures, traders packed up roadside stalls, and vehicles crawled through the familiar congestion that often surrounds one of Nigeria’s busiest university communities.

But on Sunday evening, that routine shattered in seconds.

Gunshots echoed near the main gate of the University of Benin, sending students and pedestrians scrambling for safety. By the time the chaos subsided, a young man identified by the Edo State Police Command as Alexander Omogiate lay mortally wounded inside a Mercedes-Benz GLK, while several others battled injuries from bullets that tore through the vehicle.

According to eyewitness accounts, masked gunmen intercepted the SUV as it attempted to leave the university gate area. Without warning, the attackers allegedly opened fire at close range before speeding away.

For many students who witnessed the incident, the horror remains difficult to process.

“They shot him at close range, and there was no way he could have survived,” one student recounted quietly. “Everybody just started running.”

What makes the tragedy even more chilling is that Omogiate had reportedly completed an examination in the Department of Political Science barely an hour earlier. Friends and classmates who saw him earlier that day could hardly imagine that his final moments would unfold in such violence.

Three other occupants of the vehicle sustained gunshot injuries during the attack, while a female passerby identified as Dorathy Ubah was struck by a stray bullet as panic erupted around the scene.

Police operatives from the Ugbowo Divisional Headquarters later arrived to evacuate the victim and restore calm to the area.

In a statement issued on Monday, the spokesperson for the Edo State Police Command, CSP Eno Ikoedem, confirmed that the shooting occurred around 5 p.m. on May 10, 2026. Preliminary investigations, according to police authorities, revealed that Omogiate and two others identified as Onwuke Blessed and Chinenye Christian Mbagwu were driving out of the university vicinity when another white GLK intercepted them.

The attackers reportedly lowered their windows and opened fire before escaping to an unknown destination.

All victims were rushed to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, where doctors later confirmed Omogiate dead.

The Commissioner of Police in Edo State, Monday Agbonika, has since ordered a full investigation and directed security operatives to track down those responsible.

Yet beyond the police statements and official reactions, fear has quietly settled across the university environment.

Students say the atmosphere had already become tense a day before the killing. Reports emerged of another student being chased near the Social Science Lecture Theatre by suspected hoodlums wielding machetes. A separate altercation captured in a viral video also showed scenes of violence involving young men believed to be linked to rival groups.

These developments have fueled renewed concerns about cult-related violence around tertiary institutions in Nigeria — a problem that universities and security agencies have struggled to completely eradicate for decades.

In response to Sunday’s killing, the management of the University of Benin quickly distanced the institution from the incident. In a statement signed by the university’s Public Relations Officer, Benedicta Ehanire, the school maintained that the shooting occurred outside campus and did not involve staff or students of the university community.

The institution described the clash as a fallout of suspected cult activities and urged students to continue their academic activities peacefully.

But the tragedy took another dramatic turn following the resignation of Venerable Egbenusi Osazee David, chairman of the university’s Cult Renunciation, Reconciliation, Rehabilitation and Interfaith Committee.

In a strongly worded resignation letter addressed to the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Edoba Omoregie (SAN), Egbenusi alleged that he faced pressure after forwarding video clips of the violence and shooting incident to the university leadership.

According to him, the videos were shared purely in the interest of campus security and possible investigation.

“I wish to state plainly that I have not deleted the clips and shall not do so,” he wrote. “A human life was lost, and any investigative process requires that evidence be preserved, not destroyed.”

The university, however, dismissed the allegations as “spurious and unguided,” accusing the cleric of acting in bad faith and insisting that the Vice-Chancellor remained committed to repositioning the institution.

Management further stated that it was relieved by his resignation, alleging that he had not functioned effectively in his anti-cultism role.

As investigations continue, students are left navigating grief, fear, and uncertainty.

For many parents, the incident has reopened painful questions about safety in and around Nigerian universities. For students, it is another reminder of how quickly ordinary academic life can collide with violence.

And for the wider public, the killing of Alexander Omogiate is more than another headline. It is a reflection of a deeper crisis one where youth violence, cult rivalries, and insecurity continue to cast long shadows over institutions meant to shape the future.