The Plateau State University in Bokkos in the northern part of central Nigeria has been temporarily closed following a bandit attack on communities around the institution during which a second-year computer science student, Dading James Jordan, was killed.
In a statement later in the day, the university registrar, Yakubu Ayuba, announced the closure and suspension of ongoing first-semester examinations until 2 May 2024. This came shortly after students staged a protest against “incessant bandit attacks”.
In addition to the student, 14 locals were killed in the attack that took place just before midnight on Friday, 19 April, ThisDay reported.
“Following the sad incident that occurred at Plateau State University, Bokkos, and the surrounding communities ... and in view of the psychological effect of the unfortunate incident on students and staff of the university, the management has taken the painful decision to close the university for 10 days, with effect from 19 April. This decision is to allow the security situation to improve ...” Ayuba said.
Students decry attacks
Several students lamented that bandit onslaughts have become rampant in recent times and demanded lasting solutions from the authorities concerned.
A third-year student, Gabriel Yohanna, told University World News: “It was a really brutal situation. We [students] were asleep when the gunmen struck. Everybody was running helter-skelter for their lives in the dark. Sadly, one of us was killed. Persistent blackouts expose us to so many dangers.
“If we want to read at night, we have to leave our houses and go to the campus. We want to attain academic excellence and make our families proud but, in the long run, some end up being robbed, raped or killed. There should be maximum safety around the university community,” he said.
Margaret Pwajok, a mass communication student, complained that security challenges around the university are getting out of hand, recalling her close shave with death.
“I feel like nobody does anything about it [security]. There is literally no semester that a student does not get kidnapped, raped or killed. On Friday, we woke up to the news of a 200-level (second-year) student killed by bandits.
“I’m so concerned because this could have been me a few years ago. I narrowly escaped being raped and murdered,” she said.
Attacks on the rise
Bandit attacks on communities and educational institutions have spiked in Nigeria in recent years, leading to abductions for ransom and killings of many citizens, including students. So far in 2024, students have been victims of about 10 reported kidnappings and murders across the country.
For instance, in January, a fourth-year biological science student at the Ahmadu Bello University, Nabeeha Al-Kadriyar, was murdered by gunmen who abducted her and her siblings from their home in Abuja. The survivors were freed after nearly a month in captivity.
In early March 2024, bandits invaded an elementary school and a junior secondary school sharing the same premises in Kaduna State, abducting 137 pupils and a teacher, who later died in the kidnappers’ den. The students were held hostage for 16 days.
Nine students in a vehicle returning from their school in Cross Rivers State were abducted on 29 March 2024.
Two days later, on March 31, the spokesman for the Cross River State Police Command, SP Irene Ugbo, confirmed another abduction, of three University of Calabar students from a campus hostel at night. On April 1, gunmen kidnapped two students at the Federal University Wukari, Taraba State. All of them spent days in captivity before they were freed.
Students call for adequate security
Student organisations have called on security agencies to introduce measures to stop further attacks on students.
Ahmad Usaini Adam, the secretary general of the National Association of Plateau State Students, said the attacks were unacceptable. He urged the government to protect the lives of students and locals and bring the perpetrators to book.
The National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS) condemned the attack “in strongest terms”, insisting that the security and welfare of students are non-negotiable.
“These senseless attacks on students are unfortunate, disheartening and disturbing. It hurts the entire student community,” Nanchang Peter Timloh, NAPS’ National Vice President External Affairs, told University World News.
“It is on this note that we charge all critical stakeholders in the education and security sectors to rise to the occasion and find a lasting solution to these incidents. More priority should be given to the safety of students. The loss of lives to preventable incidents such as this must never happen again,” he added.
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