An unidentified caretaker has been accused of killing a 100-level student of the federal polytechnic, Nekede, Owerri, over issues on the payment of house rents.

The deceased student identified as Anthony Chinweotito Emmanuel, a first-year student of the Department of Building Technology, died in a hospital on Saturday night, February 6 after being hit by the caretaker during an argument. 

According to eyewitness reports, the caretaker had locked up the water supply in the said house because some students refused to pay the full house rent. This led to an argument with the students arguing that they did not live in the hostel between March 2020 and January 2021 following the Covid-19 lockdown, and they later opened the tap to fetch water. 

When the caretaker returned and found the tap opened, he used a saw and cut open the water pipe. This led to an argument during which he allegedly picked up a plank of wood and hit the deceased on his stomach.

The caretaker allegedly ran away after the incident, leaving Anthony in the pool of his blood. He was then rushed to a nearby hospital but was rejected, and was later taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri where he died on Saturday.

A divisional police officer in charge of Nekede Police Station confirmed the incident stating that the caretaker is currently being held in police custody and the case would be handed over to the State CID on Monday, for further investigation.