The Management of the University of Abuja has disclosed that bandits and Kidnappers have taken over the campus.
Vice Chancellor of the University,Prof,Abdul-Rasheed Na’Allah stated this while appealing to the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) through its Department of Development Control to remove structures that constitute threat to the campus.
Na’Allah who revealed the security challenges of the institution on Tuesday,when he received the Director, Department of Development Control,Murkta Galadima said the greatest challenge of the University is encroachment of its land which he noted was also a national emergency.
He said students are being attacked and recently,three female students were kidnapped.”We are now living in fear because of the bandits. Some of the indigenes give land to them without really knowing them Some don’t even ask for permission they just take over.Many times we have clashes”
He lamented the vulnerabllity of the university to danger as he said” Whenever we want to construct any structure they attack us and many times we had to negotiate with them sometimes,they collect money from the University just to use the land of the University.
According to him, the governing board intended to turn the university into a tourist attraction but Kidnapping and Banditry were getting in the way.
The Vice Chancellor called for collaboration with the FCT to get the campus safe expressing Joy over the Federal Governmen N400 million allocation to start the fencing of the university stressing “Between now and December we must start”
” The elements we are talking about are faceless, and you don’t know their capacity.They are called non state actors, if we fail to act, the future will never forgive us.This is serious and dangerous and that is why we are appealing to the Minister of FCT,Mallam Muhammad Bello,to assist us.There are many houses that have been marked for demolition as far back as 2012 but nothing was done. Recently we visited an area called Kado and we discovered more structures are being built and new allocation’s are being given” he said.
However, the Director, Department of Development Control Murkta Galadima, said there was need to follow due process in removing the structures as it is a topical issue in terms of the size of the land and the number of squatters.
He said” We are talking from Gwagwalada bridge to Soka bridge ( over 11,800 acres of land.The rate of squatting and invasion are beyond this office,it has to be done with FCT administration” adding that the process of discussing the security challenges with stakeholders has already begun and the next phase would be to develop an action plan to sensitise the villages and map out strategies of the date and time for the demolition of the structures.
The University of Abuja is insecure as the campus can be accessed through the hills and farmlands owned by villagers around it making it a habitation for criminal elements.
Cattles and herders are common features around the university premises putting a question mark on the integrity of the institution as well as developmental concerns of the federal government towards public institutions
.As a federal government tertiary Education facility seating on the federal capital territory,it is expected that it would represent the developmental drive of the present administration as well as those before it to give the institution a face lift in a manner that is befitting, however, the present state of the university calls for immediate action as a first time visitor to the institution would have an impression of the campus as a glorified secondary school.
