Amid worsening insecurity across the country, some tertiary schools have developed measures to ensure safety on their campuses.
While some have collaborated with the conventional security personnel, others have reached out to local vigilantes to make their schools more secure.
Others have deployed technology to achieve a safe school environment, while those who are yet to do so have appealed to federal and state governments to install Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras in all the entry and exit points of the universities.
In this category is Borno State University, now Kashim Ibrahim University, whose chief security officer (CSO), CSP Yusuf Yari (rtd), called on the state government to install CCTV cameras in all the university’s entrance points.
Yari, who said the university had not experienced any attack or security threat since his assumption of duty, called for the provision of motorcycles and more patrol vehicles for the joint task force team comprising the military, paramilitary, Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) and others manning the school’s security.
His counterparts at the University of Maiduguri, Major Mohammed Abiya (rtd), told our correspondent that he could not speak without the consent of the school’s management.
However, Phibi Monday and Ruth Paul, students of the University of Maiduguri living in the hostel, said a recent security threat they experienced was early this year when they were alerted to vacate their classes and return to the hostel over a Boko Haram attack close to the university.
They said, in the process, many students lost their valuables while scampering for safety.
Our correspondent reports that the University of Maiduguri has at different times been threatened by attacks from terrorists who had attacked communities near the university, though the fortified security in the school has not prevented any terrorist attacks.
In Nasarawa State, the incidents of kidnapping, armed robbery and other crimes in and around campuses of tertiary institutions have significantly reduced.
Our correspondent reports that before now, there had been incessant kidnapping and armed robbery incidents, especially in off-campus residences of students and lecturers of both the Federal University of Lafia and the Nasarawa State University, Keffi (NSUK).
The situation degenerated in late 2023 with incidents occurring virtually every week.
Things came to a head when 10 female students of FULAFIA were abducted from their Gandu off-campus residences on December 7, 2023. In November of that year, a 300-level Sociology student was shot in the same community. This was apart from other pockets of incidents that went unreported across the areas.
Similarly, in NSUK, four female students were abducted from their off-campus residences in Angwan Kare area on October 10, 2023, while in the same month, a female lecturer was also kidnapped from her home in Angwan Jaba area of the town.
Our correspondent spoke with a cross-section of FULAFIA students who confirmed that the security situation in Gandu and other off-campus areas has improved due to some measures taken by the management in collaboration with security agencies.
One of the students, Hauwa Maina, however, said there was a case of robbery in Gandu, opposite the permanent side, on Wednesday night, with some students robbed of their personal belongings.
It was also gathered that there was an attempted case of kidnapping of students in Tudun Kauri and Phase Two last semester but the assailants abandoned their mission on sighting an advancing security team.
The students said the presence of the Counter Terrorism Unit of the Nigeria Police Force in Gandu has helped to reduce security in the school environment.
The institution’s head of information unit, Abubakar Ibrahim, said the synergy between the management and heads of security agencies in the state and other stakeholders has led to a secure environment.
He said a dedicated joint operation team is constantly on the ground to deal with any breach of peace, and a military outpost is within the environment, among other interventions.
Similarly, in NSUK, security presence has also improved the situation around the off-campus areas. Our correspondent gathered that no kidnapping or armed robbery incidents were recorded lately.
When contacted, NSUK’s Information and Protocol Officer, Jafar Mohammed, promised to get back with the institution’s official position, but was yet to do so as at the time of filing this report.
In Niger State, students of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) University, Lapai, living off campus have been under constant attacks by some hoodlums leading to the death of a student last month.
Given this development, Governor Umaru Bago ordered that the school be closed, stressing that the university’s security architecture must be redesigned to ensure the safety of students and staff before it would be reopened.
Consequently, the vice chancellor of the university, Prof Mohammed Hadi Suleiman, said new efforts were being made to ensure the security of students and staff by considering investing in building more hostels.
At the Federal University of Technology, Minna, there have not been any significant security breaches or attacks recently, other than the usual petty theft of the property of students living off campus.
In Kwara, the primary security challenge confronting the Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin, is the encroachment of its vast land by suspected land grabbers.
This has often disrupted activities in the institution because of altercations between the school management and some acclaimed landowners.
The rector of the polytechnic, Dr Abdul Jimoh Mohammed, who confirmed this to LEADERSHIP Sunday, said the relevant stakeholders had taken measures to take back the institution’s land from the suspected land grabbers.
He however called on the state government to help construct a perimeter fence for the institution as a permanent solution to the problem.
The Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete, was recently faced with the problem of incessant robbery attacks on its students living in the Malete community and its environs.
The management of the institution, however, said that decisive steps had been taken to forestall any repeat of robbery attacks on some private hostels in the host community.
“A joint patrol of the Police, Civil Defence Corps and vigilantes has been put in place to patrol the Malete community, while a stakeholders’ meeting will be held to find a lasting solution to the incessant robbery disturbing the peace of KWASU students off-campus.
“Management urges all KWASUites to remain calm and not to take the laws into their own hands. Security agents are already in every part of Malete, and students are to go about their lawful businesses without fear,” said the institution’s registrar, Dr Kikelomo Sallee.
The security challenges confronting Imo State appear to be more in rural communities than in tertiary institutions.
Speaking with LEADERSHIP Sunday, the president of the student union government (SUG) of Alvan Ikoku Federal University of Education, Uche Onuoha, said the institution had put in place a coordinated mechanism to secure the school and its environment.
According to him, this system has yielded positive results as no security breach was recorded within the school premises in recent times.
He, however, advised the government to constitute local vigilantes in the various communities.
In his contribution, the SUG president of Imo State University (IMSU), Comrade Chidera Okwaraji, said the institution has a high-tech security system that works seamlessly.
Similarly, tertiary institutions in Ondo State have described the security situation in their campuses as relatively peaceful.
The universities, which include the Federal University of Technology, Akure and Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko (AAUA), said the state government provides them the needed support.
The director of Corporate Communications, FUTA, Adegbenro Adebanjo, said, “FUTA is relatively in good standing in terms of safety and security. Relevant security agencies have improved the patrol of the precincts of the institution.
“Constant security awareness initiatives for staff and students and regular engagements with the host community strengthen this.”
Also, the head of Information, Protocol and Public Relations of the AAUA, Mr Victor Akinpelu, said the university was peaceful.
According to him, the institution has put in place a robust synergy that is working effectively for the institution, the public and the students.
“AAUA authorities had put in place measures to enhance security, including increased security personnel and collaboration with local police and other security agencies,” he said.
One of the student leaders in FUTA, Comrade Gboyega Adeola, said in terms of security, the management of FUTA has lived up to the expectations.
In their reactions, the students and lecturers of Kaduna State University (KASU) and Kaduna Polytechnic said there was no cause for alarm in the institutions.
Those of Ahmadu Bello University, ABU Zaria, said that in the past, insecurity was a source of concern as they could hardly sleep with their two eyes closed following cases of kidnapping of some of their loved ones, including lecturers.
A student of KASU, Ibrahim Danladi, said, “We have never had any case of insecurity in our school, maybe because it is located within a busy part of the metropolis. So, we thank God and pray that the situation remains so.”
Mr Jeremiah Sokoga of the Kaduna Polytechnic also confirmed that there has been no case of insecurity in the institution since he gained admission.
Meanwhile, the institutions’ spokespersons said they would need permission from management to speak on the matter but never responded as at the time of this report.
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