From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi
Suspected gunmen yesterday stormed the female hostel of the Benue state University (BSU), Makurdi, raping and robbing the students of their valuables.
No fewer than twenty female students were said to have been raped at gunpoint during the invasion, which happened at about 10 p.m.
The incident has sent jitters amongst the students, most of whom have evacuated the campus.
A source, who pleaded anonymity, disclosed to Peoples Daily that the invaders stormed the Technical Block of the female hostel in a commando manner manhandling and raping the helpless girls before carting away their valuables.
The armed men were said to have had a field day without disturbance by the university security operatives.
The latest incident is said to the third in the last one month, as it was also gathered that a female student of the university had been raped about a week ago by a group of young men, numbering four, when she was returning from where she had gone to read, around 9 p.m. The student, for fear of stigmatization, has refused to return to school since the ugly incident.
Worried over the persistent attacks, the female students of the university, in their large numbers, staged a protest to the office of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Charity Angya insisting for an explanation from the authorities over the attacks on them.
But while the protest raged on, a student Judith (surname withheld) said security men forcefully seized phones and other devices from students, insisting that they do not want the pictures of the protest to get to public knowledge.
The Vice-Chancellor, who visited the hostel to ascertain the level of damage, assured that the school management would beef up security even as seven students that were wounded in the last attack were said to be undergoing treatment at the university’s clinic.
When contacted, Dean Students Affairs, Prof. Armstrong Adejoh confirmed the ugly development, but insisted that it was an internal security issue.
He said the school was working assiduously to liaise with the relevant security agencies so that surveillance would be increased around the hostels.
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