By Shehu Uthman
Wajud Modibbo (real name withheld), a 400-Level student of Agriculture, instantly became dreaded with disbelief upon coming back from Jumu’ah prayer to see that his two laptops were not in sight of where he left it charging in his hostel.
His face started drizzling with sweat as he noticed that it was not only the gadgets that were missing, but also the gas cylinder that was kept with him by his friend and his foodstuffs and some valuables were all missing, too.
The broken window apparently told the story—burglars came in and made off with their belongings.
“We came back from Jumu’ah prayer after 2:33pm and we were greeted with great misfortune to see that we were robbed in our hostel. Some thieves came and broke down our window and took our stuff, including two laptops that were left charging, foodstuffs and a gas cylinder kept with me,” Modibbo narrated.
Suspecting other students that did not go for Jumu’ah prayer, Modibbo quickly approached the security officers and reported the crime incidents. He alleged that nobody would have carried out that mischief within that short time except those students they left in the premises.
According to him, “We immediately involved the security officers to intervene and when they came we directed them to the rooms of our prime suspects. And to our dismay, our properties were all recovered from them, after which they were taken by the security for more interrogation as to why they stole our properties.”
Meanwhile, the Jibril Aminu hostel has been plagued with phone thefts for over the years. The recurring incidents call for enhanced security measures but the lack thereof has left students vulnerable to the likes of Wajud Modibbo among others.
Luqman Muhammad Yasin, was another victim of phone theft in Jibril Aminu hostel. His own phone got stolen when he just went outside to ease himself. According to him, his properties were stolen numerous times but the recent incident caused more harm to him.
“I’ve lost count how many times my properties were stolen in my hostel,” Yasin recounted, “despite lodging complaints to the security officers, nothing has been done to curb it. In fact, it’s getting out of hand because hardly a day goes by without hearing about the issue of theft in this hostel.”
Yasin was limited to rely on softcopy materials because of his financial constraints that makes hardcopies unaffordable for him. But when his phone got stolen, he suffered a lot to meet up with his study habits.
He stated, “When my phone was stolen for the second time, I faced a huge challenges due to the fact that most of my study materials are softcopy, which without my phone couldn’t be accessible to read them. So, stealing my phone was a setback for me.”
A Case Too Many
Okunade Adejoke Michael couldn’t have been more careful with his gadgets than he had ever been all the time yet, Jibril Aminu hostel general misfortune also reached his turn when his phone was stolen while he was in a deep sleep. Michael just awoke to the unpleasant shocked to issue report to the security officers.
Without the security taking any action, the situation caused Michael into setback as he missed classes and nearly missed a test. This lost of his phone to the notorious hostel’s thieves had tampered with his study focus that he felt disturbed on how to meet up with regular lectures.
“I have to get another phone with the money I could have used in buying other valuable things because I can’t afford to lose my focus on academics,” Micheal yell out.
It was Michael hope that the security should always carry out their duty to apprehend culprits anytime crimes of any sort is reported them. He therefore pleaded the school management to help them swiftly addressed this by ensuring that security officers safeguard their properties in the hostel.
Management Pledge Intervention
Speaking with THE NEWS DIGEST PRESS, the Chief Security Officer together with his Deputy assured zero tolerance on theft and other related security issues. They stated that students should directly report to their offices so as to enable them to take action on time.
However, they also urged students to keep their properties safe and be extra careful with intruders. According to them, students are responsible to care of their stuff in their respective hostels.
This was also provided in the students handbook, especially taking a cursory glance at Regulations Governing Conduct And Discipline of Students.
Accordingly, paragraph (i) and (ii) of the rules stated thus,
(i) Students are responsible for the care of their personal belongings. The university shall not be responsible for any damage to, or loss of personal effects of any student.
(ii) Any breach of peace or social nuisance within the university premises should be reported to the appropriate University Officer (such as porter, caretaker, matron, hall administrator, security officer etc).
In addition, paragraph (xvii), emphasized it thus:
(Xvii) Any use, conversion, or dealing with personal properties of another person within the university premises without due permission of the owner shall attract rustication for two semesters or one session.