Vice Chancellor University of Abuja, Professor Abdul Rasheed Na’Allah has said the institution was prone to constant attacks by bandits and kidnappers.
Prof. Na’Allah, who made the disclosure Wednesday during a meeting with personnel of the Department of Development Control in his office at the university’s permanent site in Giri, decried that two of his students had been kidnapped and over N2million ransom demanded for their release.
According to him, the kidnappers and the bandits were illegally residing on parts of the institution’s over 11,000 hectares of land, and needed to be dislodged.
Describing the situation a “national emergency and a ‘ticking time bomb’, Prof. Na’Allah called on the FCT Minister, Mallam Muhammad Musa Bello, to expedite action on the demolition of illegal settlements on the university’s land to pave way for development and ensure security of students, workers and property.
He said, “The truth is that this University is in trouble right now because we have all sorts of people who are living on the campus utilising the land, who have no respect for the environment. It has even gone further that bandits are coming in and taking over land both within staff residences and outside.”
“We now have our students being attacked. We are 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. We are taking this issue seriously, unfortunately alarm was raised before and there were efforts that were made but were abandoned. So they have taken it that nothing will happen and have grown so comfortable and carry on with impunity.
“We need FCT Administration to work with us to the very end to get this campus safe. God forbid, if this is left unattended, we have no idea what crisis it will cause the nation.”
He stated that the federal government approved N400 million for the construction of a perimeter fencing round the land, but expressed fears the bandits might destroy the work once they started work, adding that the bandits had done so in the past and the institution had to pay them to carry out some developments on its land.