24th August, 2023
By Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt
Scores of female students of Rivers State University Port Harcourt flooded the streets of their campus on Thursday in protest over attack on their hostel by armed robbers.
It was gathered that the protests followed attack on one of the hostels, ‘Hostel D’ by the gunmen who robbed the students of their valuables, harming and sexually assaulting some them early Thursday morning.
Some of the traumatized female students claimed they overheard the armed men threatening that they would come back to rob other hostels.
“Armed with guns, machetes and other dangerous weapons, the criminals raided the hostel, terrorizing us and stealing valuable items like Laptops, Jewelries, Phones and monies. Some of us were sexually assault on gunpoint while some were injured. This is not the first time,” one of the students said.
Disturbed by the audacious and alarming breach of security on campus, the students demanded that the university authorities should take immediate action to investigate the incident and apprehend the culprits.
The students also called on the university to prioritize their safety and well-being by ensuring that such acts of violence do not occur again.
The students who participated in the protest expressed their outrage and concern over the lack of security measures to protect the hostels.
They called on the university administration to address the severe lapses in security that allowed armed individuals to gain access to the premises, especially hostels and carry out such reprehensible acts.
They urged the university authorities to promptly address the security lapses to prevent any further occurrence of such distressing incidents in the future.
At the time of filing this report, neither the University authorities and the Rivers State Police Command have reacted on the incident