Abdulrazaq Kamaldeen reports
Road to Bakassi hostel at night
The residents of Bakassi hostel, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto have been grappling with the distressing absence of functional street lights along the road stretching from the Faculty of Law to the Faculty of Agriculture.
The persistent darkness in this area has left people in fear, especially during nighttime hours.
Abdullahi Kiniki, a 200L Veterinary Medicine student, shared his concerns about the lack of street lighting, revealing that he avoids walking alone at night due to safety concerns.
He often relies on the company of friends when venturing out for night study sessions.
“There is always a fear while passing here. An unknown person might attack someone here. So, for someone to walk here, you have to be vigilant.
“Normally, I usually walk in groups with my friends, especially when going for night reading. It will be difficult for someone to walk alone after Maghrib prayer, he lamented.
Similarly, Ismail Noah, a Postgraduate student in Mathematics, expressed his disappointment at the absence of street lights during the night.
Emphasizing the safety concerns it poses, he urged the school management to address the issue promptly.
In his words: “ I implore the school management to restore it because it’s not safe for normal human beings to be walking here without light,” Aremu urged. “I frequently heard that some people used to collect bikes here from bikemen because this place is too dark, and it will be easy for the criminals to carry out their act. Any miscreant act can occur.”
Aremu further narrated incidents of obstruction and robbery that have taken place in the area, with some suspicions that even bikemen may be involved in criminal activities. He suggested that converting the street lights to solar-powered ones would be a practical and sustainable solution.
Speaking with The News Digest press, Salima IK, a security officer responsible for both the Faculty of Social Science and the Faculty of Management Science, voiced her concerns as a security professional regarding the faulty street lights.
“Even as security officers, we feel happy and secure if there is a security light because everything that moves will be seen. In the absence of security light, it brings a negative impact to our work,” Salima remarked.
He explained how students perceive the area as unsafe and bushy due to the darkness, but with functioning security lights, they could feel more secure, even using them for studying during nighttime hours.
Salima IK recounted an incident that occurred during the period when the street lights were not operational. “There was an issue that occurred during this period because criminal people like a place that is dark for them to carry out their act successfully. There was a time when village people near the street lights were shouting ‘thief,’ but due to the lack of light, he managed to escape. If the street lights were working, I, as a security officer, would have been able to apprehend him, but due to the faulty street lights, I couldn’t approach him because I didn’t know what he was holding.”
SU CTC Reacts
In an interview with the Chairman of the Students Unions Caretaker Committee (CTC), Abdullahi Sanusi, he assured that necessary steps had been taken to address the issue.
“I have reported this issue to the concerned authorities, and it will soon be restored, in sha Allah,” he said