Nigerian student, Hassan Babatunde, drowns in Cyprus

Nigerian student, Hassan Babatunde, drowns in Cyprus

A Nigerian student identified as Hassan Babatunde, reportedly drowned at a beach in Alagadi-2 region in Girne, Cyprus on Wednesday afternoon.

Olomoinfo reported that the Nigerian student resumed his schooling at Cyprus International University, after being transferred to the school from Near East University.

This follows up report of the arrest of 3 persons, in connection with the abduction and murder of a 28-year-old Nigerian student in Famagusta, North-Cyprus.

Three Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus citizens identified as Zekeriya Kurucu, 22, Ozan Korkurt, 18, and Burcu Çelik, 16, were arraigned in court few weeks ago.

An autopsy conducted at the Famagusta State Hospital into the killing of the Nigerian student in the Turkish Cypriot town of Famagusta, confirmed that he died of a cerebral haemorrhage caused by severe blows to the head.

Kennedy Taomwabwa, 28, who was a student of Eastern Mediterranean University, was reportedly abducted from the city center by a group of eight locals who kidnapped him against his will. Taomwabwa was taken home and killed by the group on Jan. 31, according to police officials.

Turkish Cypriot police found his body near a pond outside of the city and detected that he was killed after he was beaten up. The autopsy report confirmed that he received several blows to various parts of his body, suffered from severe lung injuries and eventually died after his head was crushed with stone.

Three suspects allegedly involved in the murder were detained by police on Feb. 1. Kıbrıs Postası, a Turkish Cypriot-based daily newspaper, reported that three more suspects were captured later in the day. The suspects include men and women whose ages range between 16 and 28.

Also, a 16-year-old suspect admitted that she was around the scene of the incident but denied she was with the other suspects. Her father has reportedly refused to hire a lawyer for his daughter, saying she should be held accountable for her actions.