The University of Ado Ekiti (UNAD) was thrown into pandemonium last Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, when members of rival cults engaged themselves in a gun duel that interrupted the ongoing first semester examinations. recounting the incident and reporting the anger among various stakeholders in the institution over poor security and other issues.
The peace that had reigned for sometime at the University of Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, was last Tuesday night, shattered when two cultist groups were engaged in a gun duel.
The duel sent both students and staff of the university scampering for safety, with some getting injured in the process as gunshots rented the air for almost an hour.
Students were seen in groups discussing their security fears and the fate of the examinations billed to take place that day. They had earlier left the Omolayo Administrative Building where they had thronged to catch a glimpse of a trio of suspected cult members arrested by the University Cadets Peace Corps.
When many of the students kicked over what they saw as insensitivity on the part of the university authorities, which had insisted that examinations must continue as scheduled the morning after the violence, their leaders addressed them in an emergency congress at the Students Union Building (SUB).
President of UNADSU, Mr. Olalekan Shittu, told the students that they were not going to write examinations, at least on Wednesday, because many students were unsettled following the fearful event of Tuesday night. “We have made it clear to the authorities that students are yet to come out of the trauma of the cultists’ clash.” He wondered what would be the fate of the undisclosed number of innocent students he said were injured in the fracas. “Innocent students should not be made to suffer for what they know nothing about,” Shittu submitted.
The Registrar of the institution, Dr. Omojola Awosusi, had maintained on Wednesday in a telephone interview with journalists that the university had not postponed the examinations, and insisted that the first semester examinations would continue on Thursday.
It was gathered from students who wished not to be named that the first gunshot was heard at about 7:42 pm on Tuesday. They alleged that a member of the Eiye Confraternity was brutalised by members of Black Axe earlier in the day over what none of them could place hands on and the former group took their revenge late in the evening. “The unfortunate thing is that we have been without electricity for a while and most students studying for the ongoing examinations leave their residences at Satellite and Osekita areas for where there is electricity. So, when the shooting began, we scampered in various directions in the darkness and many of us were seriously injured in the process,” they stated.
“One female student fainted when the sporadic shooting would not stop. She was taken to their home in town. It was only this morning that those who fell in an uncompleted soak-away pit when they were running in the darkness were helped out of the huge hole. Some of them have fractures but all of them have injuries,” the students recounted. They said those found in the uncompleted septic tank were six female and four male students.
They also alleged that an unnamed member of the student cadet corps, who form an integral part of the security system of the institution, was attacked by the cultists with machetes and was seriously injured.
The Commanding Officer of the Campus Cadets, Mr. Babafemi Dahunsi confirmed that a member of his corps was attacked with machete by the gang members but chose not to name him and the hospital where he said he was receiving treatment. “You know, I still cannot say why he was attacked. So, I’d like to keep the name of the hospital and where it is for his security,” Dahunsi stated. On the number of those injured, he said he had no figure, adding “I can’t even imagine what might have happened among the cultists and I’m sure they would keep their members away, dead or alive, at all costs.”
Dahunsi said those that were arrested by the cadet corps and paraded were cultists. “One of them was carrying a double barrel gun, one had a shot gun while the third one was carrying bullets for the guns,” he alleged. To forestall further attack on members of his corps, he said “we now move together and stay together because if those guys could go on a shooting spree for about 45 minutes without hindrance, then anything can happen.
There is presence of armed plain clothed security personnel on the campus on Wednesday. However, on enquiry, the students lamented that when policemen eventually arrived in the campus, “they started shooting right from the gate which is far away from the scene of the incident.” They queried, “Is that not a signal to the gangs that they had arrived and that they should run away?”
The Public Relations Officer of the Ekiti State police command, Mr. Mohammed Jimoh, when asked about the incident, said two of the gang members were arrested by men of the command, pointing out that the situation had been contained while investigations were on. The students however said that they handed over the three men they arrested to the State Security Service (SSS).
But the worries of the majority of the students were not over whether arrests could be made or not. They are afraid of what comes after they had reported crimes and sundry acts and such suspects were taken away. “Our major fear is sustained insecurity on the campus and the non-challance of the relevant authorities,” some of the students stated.
“We know those causing problems on the campus. They are our neighbours, classmates, friends and are in our faculties, departments and so on. But when we report them to the authorities, the next few days, they’re back on campus. They even come to you with renewed threats and say things like: ‘so you went and reported me?” the students lamented.
According to them, “there are almost daily occurrences of robberies, especially of mobile phones and other handy property. People will just corner you somewhere and take away your property under the threat of knives and other arms.”
Christians in the university have, however, taken the battle to the spiritual realm, seeking the face of God in all that concern them and the institution. The largest fellowship in UNAD, the University Christian Association Ado Ekiti (UCAAD), led by Pastor Isaac Adubazi, even staged a peaceful march round the university same Wednesday to create awareness on the state of insecurity. Transportation and other activities were disrupted all through the one hour the march lasted.
The return of deadly gangs has thrown light on many other issues bedevilling the university. Students said the last time they witnessed cultists’ war was in 2007 and wondered what had gone wrong. However, the Public Relations Officer of the university, Mr. Olubunmi Ajibade, said he was sure that normalcy had returned to the university.
No comments:
Post a Comment