Sylvanus Viashima, Jalingo

A final year student of College of Nursing and Midwifery Jalingo, Miss Mercy Victor, on Tuesday, died of injuries she sustained from alleged gang raping by hoodlums on Sunday night.

Taraba State Police Public Relations Officer, David Missal, who confirmed the development said the matter was reported to the headquarters on Tuesday morning, but was referred to the GRA Police Station in Jalingo for investigation.

President of the National Union of Taraba State Students, Comrade Hope Vyonku, told journalists that Miss. Mercy ran into the evil gang on Sunday night while returning to school.

“I was told that she was returning to the school from town on a tricycle she boarded when the incident happened close to the bridge after the State Specialist Hospital, Jalingo.

“She was reportedly raped and abandoned by the road side, before a passerby rushed her to the State Specialist Hospital, where she died this morning (yesterday),” he said.

While condemning the rape and murder, Vyonku called on the authorities of the school to put in place adequate security measures to ensure the safety of students of the college.

“We have declared one week of mourning in honour of Mercy and all victims of hoodlums-related crimes in that school, and we call on the management to urgently put in place interim measures to guarantee the safety of the students or risk protest,” he said.

One of the students, Vivian Julius, who spoke on phone, described the incident as too many and pleaded with the relevant authorities to set up constant patrols on the road, which she said has become a nightmare for the users at night.

“This is very unfortunate. Mercy was such a lively lady who would never hurt a fly. This road is now a death trap for us. Once it is night, you dare not pass through it. So many of our students have been robbed and raped on that road. The security agencies should set up check points on the road and maintain regular patrols on it , otherwise this incident will continue”, Vivian said.

Parts of Jalingo, especially areas around the School of Nursing have become notorious for constant attacks on people at night during which people are often dispossed of their mobile phones and other belongings.