Students of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State, are protesting alleged recurring off-campus robbery attacks.
According to Daily Trust, the protest disrupted academic activities in the institution.
The students initially blocked the Minna-Bida road as early as 8 am on Tuesday, leaving travellers stranded.
They later moved to block the institution’s main gate before the vice Chancellor arrived.
Efforts to calm the protesting students by the Vice Chancellor were unsuccessful as students asked him to leave.
It took several hours for the university security to create a way for the Vice Chancellor to gain access to the university.
Several staff, including the Deputy Vice Chancellors, top management officials, and academic staff, were denied entry into the university.
Many of them eventually returned home as students insisted that no one would again access.
According to the aforementioned publication, the university was to commence computer aptitude semester test for 100 and 300 level students, but the plan was truncated by the protest.
One of the students, disclosed that one student was killed in a robbery attack three days ago, while another robbery attack last night left some 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.
He alleged that they had reported several times to the university management, but no action had been taken to protect them.
A staff member of the institution said that the students were provoked by the ₦10,000 security charges they pay every session.
He blamed the university management for not taking measures to address the off campus security concerns.
When contacted, the Dean Students Affairs of the institution, Professor Bashir Ganiyu, said the university was already in talks with the police Command in the state to ensure adequate security off campus.
He said the off campus security is under the watch of the police and university management had equally engaged vigilantes to complement the effort of the police.
“We re handling the situation. The Off Campus security is under the control of the police. Notwithstanding we have vigilantes to assisting the police. Even the Commissioner of Police is aware of our challenge and the matter will be addressed,” he said.
Naijaonpoint reports that the Niger State Government recently dismissed reports of bandit invasions in Minna, the state capital, and other communities.
The Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Obed Nana, gave the assurance following panic caused by reports that some schools in the state had been invaded by bandit.
