LAGOS MAY 30TH (NEWSRANGERS)-Severe chaos has erupted at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), Imo State, following a violent, mass uprising by students.
The unrest was reportedly triggered by the brutal murder of a 100-level Cybersecurity student who was allegedly tortured and beaten to death by operatives of the campus ‘Man O’ War’ paramilitary volunteer corps.
SaharaReporters gathered that the student was subjected to a horrific and prolonged physical assault by the para-military guards over an unverified accusation of stealing ₦13,000.
The student, whose identity is being withheld pending family notification, succumbed to internal injuries and was confirmed dead on Saturday morning, May 30, 2026.
The news of his death sparked immediate outrage and a swift retaliatory onslaught from the student body.
The confirmation of the freshman’s death turned the university campus into a battlefield as thousands of enraged students mobilised in solidarity.
Graphic and gory video footage obtained and reviewed by SaharaReporters on X (formerly Twitter) shows a massive, chanting crowd of students systematically hunting down assets belonging to the ‘Man O’ War’ command on campus.
In one video clip, a thick crowd of students can be seen utilizing clubs and heavy stones to completely demolish the signpost and perimeter fixtures of the paramilitary organization.
Another video reveals a much more dangerous escalation, showing desperate students setting several structures on fire. Plumes of thick, dark smoke can be seen billowing heavily over university buildings, forcing lecturers and administrators to flee the campus for safety.
“The boy was brutally beaten just because of an unverified accusation that he stole ₦13,000,” a distraught student leader told SaharaReporters.
“Instead of handing him over to the university’s official security unit or the Nigeria Police for proper investigation, these Man O’ War elements locked him up and beat him like an animal until he died. This is pure murder, and we will not allow it to be swept under the rug.”
The tragic incident has renewed intense debates regarding the high-handed operations of quasi-security and volunteer paramilitary groups across Nigerian university campuses.
Students have routinely complained that bodies like the ‘Man O’ War’, cadet units, and local campus vigilantes often operate outside the law, using torture, arbitrary detentions, and raw physical violence to extort and terrorize students under the guise of enforcing campus discipline.
The destruction of the base at FUTO represents a total rejection of these parallel security structures by the student body.
Efforts by SaharaReporters to get an official response from the law enforcement authorities regarding the deployment of anti-riot units to restore order or the arrest of the implicated Man O’ War operatives were completely stonewalled.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) for the Imo State Command, Henry Okoye, refused to answer multiple phone calls placed to his verified mobile number.
Furthermore, a text message sent to him seeking clarity on the killing and the subsequent riot went unacknowledged as of the time of filing this report.
SaharaReporters
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