- Safiu Kehinde
The management of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, has condemned the violent armed robbery attack on its students, which left several injured at an off-campus hostel.
The students residing in Oreoluwa Hostel located in Moremi Estate, Ile-Ife, were on Monday evening attacked by the suspected armed robbers who invaded the premises, carted away the students of their valuables, and inflicted machete cuts on some of them.
Reacting to the development, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Simeon Bamire, in a statement issued on Tuesday by the University’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Abiodun Olarewaju, strongly condemned the attack as he called on security agencies to intensify patrols around student residential areas.
The university administration however commended the swift response of the Students’ Union officials, who transported the injured students to the University Health and Medical Centre for immediate treatment.
As contained in the statement, the three students were identified as having sustained significant injuries include Ogedengbe Oluwafemi a final year student of Management and Accounting, who sustained deep machete cuts to the head and hands.
Also sustaining deep machete cut was Emmanuel Akinribiye, also a final year student of Management and Accounting while Olalekan Okemiga, another final year Mathematics student was beaten with a machete but miraculously escaped without cuts.
The Vice-Chancellor also appreciated the prompt response of the officers from the Nigerian Police ‘A’ Division in Ile-Ife and the Oke-Otubu Division in Modakeke.
Professor Bamire used the opportunity to appeal to “all lovers of education” to support the construction of more hostels within the university campus.
He emphasized that this would allow more students to be accommodated in a safer environment where they can be better protected and monitored by the university management.