Undergraduate arrested for poisoning well in Jos

Posted by admin Headlines Tuesday, March 15th, 2011

A 21-year-old undergraduate has been arrested for allegedly poisoning a well ostensibly to dissuade people from fetching water from there.

The suspect, Ibrahim Abubakar, a 200 level Public Administration student of Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, was arrested by men of the Special Task Force, STF, maintaining security in the state after he allegedly poured a gallon of used engine oil into the well in the father’s compound in Dutse Uku area of Jos.

It was learnt that the family were forced to abandon the house in the wake of the 2008 crisis in the state and he reportedly became aggrieved that those who forced them out of the area were now enjoying the well.

He was said to have sneaked into the compound yesterday to contaminate the water to make it unusable for those fetching it but was caught by a lady who went there to fetch water.

Her alarm was said to have attracted people from the area who almost lynched the suspect before soldiers on security duty in the area rescued him.

Spokesman of the STF, Captain Charles Ekeocha who took newsmen to the compound said it was disturbing that someone would go to such an extent for revenge, especially an undergraduate who should know better.

He said such acts were becoming rampant and would have resulted in more violence if not for the way the STF had been handling them adding, “but we have to come to the open with this as the practice is becoming more rampant; what worries us so much is the aspect that this act was perpetrated by a university graduate who is seen as a future leader.”

He said the STF would hand the suspect over to the police for further investigations.

-Vanguardwp_posts