Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan.
For the second time within one month, armed robbers invaded another hostel, Abdulsalam Abubakar Hall, in the University of Ibadan, injured two students and carted away their phones, tablets, laptops and other personal effects.
The goons had on July 11, 2019 robbed female students resident in Obafemi Awolowo Hall of the premier university.
The latest robbery incident, which was said to have taken place in the early hours of Sunday, reportedly affected only the female wing of the hall of residence.
The robbers, as gathered, tied the security man on duty and had their way, and also inflicted machete cuts on two male students that tried to stop them. The injured students were said to have been treated at the university’s health centre.
Meanwhile, the Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof Idowu Olayinka, and Chairman, Council Committee on Security, Prof Ademola Aremu, have visited the hostel and assessed the situation.
Aremu, who spoke on the development, condemned the attack on the hostel, said the police were working hard to track the invaders.
He stated that the management of the university has been taking proactive steps in reviewing the security design.
Aremu said: “The invaders have shown a pattern in their operation by attacking female students. They have been invading during holidays when halls are sparsely populated.”
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) for Oyo State Police Command, Mr. Olugbenga Fadeyi, who confirmed the incident, told our correspondent during a telephone chat that the invaders attacked the Abdulsalam Abubakar Hall, which is a postgraduate hostel, adding that the robbers entered five rooms and could not really have a field day because the students shouted, and that attracted security agents to the hall.
He said one person was injured and was taken to the university’s health centre, where he was treated and had returned to his residence.
According to him, all the robbers ran away. The Divisional Police Officer for Sango and the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations) also raced to the campus and effectively dislodged the robbers.
Fadeyi, however, said the police had been working with the management of the institution with a view to strengthening the security architecture in the institution. He said no arrest had been made, adding that the police would soon clamp down on the invaders.
It would be recalled that armed robbers had on July 11 invaded Obafemi Awolowo Hall, which houses female undergraduate and postgraduate students in the university.
Then, the invaders reportedly stormed the hall at 1:30a.m., and operated for about 30 minutes. They went from one room to the other, and collected personal belongings of the female students such as phones and laptops.
The armed robbers, said to be seven in number, reportedly scaled the fence at that back of Block C of the hall, before they gained access into the hall.
During the attack one month ago, some of the female students said power supply to the hall was restored when the armed robbers arrived and was cut again when they left, adding that it was not the first time such a thing would happen in the hall.
One of the female students, who said she is in 600-level, said the most recent event made it the fourth time since she got to the institution.
On July 11, two among the female students were injured. One had a machete cut in her forehead while the other one probably suffered dislocation when she jumped from first floor to the ground floor in an attempt to escape.
One of the security guards attached to the hostel was said to have been tied with ropes. The robbers were said to have raped some of the female students. But the allegation was punctured by the students themselves and the management of the institution, who said none of the students was raped.