STUDENTS of the Federal University of Technology, Minna (FUT Minna), Niger State, on Tuesday staged a protest over alleged recurring robbery attacks targeting students living off campus, blocking the institution’s main gate and disrupting academic activities.
News Point Nigeria reports that the protesting students initially barricaded the Minna-Bida Road as early as 8:00 a.m., leaving commuters and travellers stranded before moving to the university’s main entrance, where they prevented both staff and management from accessing the campus.
The protest intensified before the arrival of the Vice-Chancellor, who later attempted to address the aggrieved students.
However, efforts by the Vice-Chancellor to calm the protesters proved unsuccessful as the students rejected his intervention and asked him to leave.
It took several hours before university security personnel created a passage that enabled the Vice-Chancellor to gain access into the institution.
Several members of staff, including the Deputy Vice-Chancellors, top management officials and academic staff, were denied entry into the university.
Many of them eventually returned home after the students insisted that nobody would be allowed into the campus.
The protest also disrupted scheduled academic activities.
It was gathered that the university had planned to commence its computer aptitude semester test for 100-level and 300-level students on Tuesday, but the exercise was suspended as a result of the protest.
Speaking to Daily Trust on condition of anonymity, one of the protesting students alleged that the demonstration was triggered by a series of robbery attacks around the university’s off-campus communities.
According to him, one student was allegedly killed during a robbery attack three days ago, while another attack on Monday night reportedly left several students injured.
“For the past one week, we have not had it comfortable with the rate of robbery attacks. We have continued to lose our valuables including our laptops and phones. Some of my colleagues were injured last night. Should we continue like this? We are not safe honestly speaking,” he said.
The student further alleged that repeated complaints to the university management had failed to yield concrete action to improve security for students residing off campus.
A staff member of the institution, who also spoke anonymously, attributed the students’ anger partly to the N10,000 security levy paid by students every academic session.
The staff member blamed the university management for allegedly failing to take adequate measures to address the persistent security challenges affecting students living outside the campus.
Reacting to the protest, the Dean of Student Affairs, Professor Bashir Ganiyu, said the university management had already engaged the Niger State Police Command to strengthen security around the institution’s off-campus areas.
He explained that while off-campus security falls under the responsibility of the police, the university had also deployed vigilantes to complement police efforts.
“We are handling the situation. The off-campus security is under the control of the police. Notwithstanding, we have vigilantes assisting the police. Even the Commissioner of Police is aware of our challenge and the matter will be addressed,” he said.
Efforts to obtain further comments from the university were unsuccessful.
Calls placed to the institution’s Head of Information, Lydia Legbo, were not answered.
Similarly, the spokesperson for the Niger State Police Command, SP Wasiu Abiodun, did not respond to a text message seeking his reaction as of the time of filing this report.