From Gyang Bere, Jos and Olanrewaju Lawal, Birnin Kebbi
Students from Imo, Abia, Delta, Rivers and Akwa Ibom states at the University of Jos have been left stranded at the village hospital of the institution, following the inability of their states to evaluate them.
However, Kebbi Governor, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu has approved N5 million as relief assistance to 95 indigenes of the state studying varsity.
This came as the condition of visual and hearing impaired students form the Department of Special Education is said to be in a deplorable state following the shutdown of the school, the curfew imposed by the state government in Jos, and the failure of the institution or state to attend to their needs.
It was gathered that the condition of trapped students got worse yesterday as electricity which the students for cooking was cut off, leaving them in darkness.
Some of the affected students who narrated their experiences to Daily Sun described their condition as pathetic, saying they had been abandoned by the government in a state caught up in conflict and deaths.
They decried the conditions of the visual and hearing impaired students, numbering 17, demanding that the government come to their assistance as there were not in a position to help themselevs.
Anthony Ojuku, outgoing President, Igbo Students Association, UNIJOS, condemned a situation where some states government from the South East, except Enugu State, have not cared to take steps to evacuate their students.
Ojuku said they are helpless and hopeless due to the fact that they are trapped in Jos where insecurity is increasing daily and where public transport is scarce and movement without security guards is risky.
“What the students needs now is evacuation. Students from the South East are stranded here due to lack of logistics. I am sad to tell you that Anambra State has not responded, Imo is yet to respond and same with Eboyi State. From the information we are getting, Abia State is on the way to evacuate their own students, but we don’t know how true it is. We need government intervention to enable us evacuate our students who are living at the mercy of the attackers. We don’t have food to eat, we are just managing.”
Public Relations Officer of the Students Union Government (SUG), Ebenezer Abadume, described the plights of students as precarious.