WAKE UP CALL! Our attentions have been drawn to the case of armed robbery attack on some Akwa Ibom State Students cum non-indigenous students who were reading in a night class @CBN HALL, prior to the commencement of the first semester examination today 13th February 2016 in the University of Uyo. According to a statement issued by one of the victims of the menace, the gang was well armed, came prepared and as such were too comfortable to invade the students' reading arena. The most baffling aspect of the attack is that it happened just some moments away from twilight. We have also gathered that, not only did the armed bandits robbed the innocent students of their valuables such as laptops, I-phones, cell phones, wallets containing plethora of documents such as ATM cards, school and other Id cards, cash etc(amidst gun point) but also engaged themselves in raping some helpless female Students who were there to study to get themselves prepared for the impending examination. This calls to question the extent of security consciousness in such a great Federal citadel of learning like UNIUYO. Within the University community we have The CSO and other trained security men, such as Santana, Man-O-War, commandant and officers of Peace on Campus Initiative (PCI). The lingering question now is where were all these security men at the time of this operation? Does it mean the security levy students pay to the University is in vain? This is just the Genesis. I've always known that UNIUYO is not safe. If a state University like Abia State University in Uturu should have a Mobile Police Base at the main gate of the institution including a nearby army Barracks, I think University of Uyo being a federal institution deserves more. It is no more news that we are in the digital age where most students prefer keeping most of their lecture notes and other research materials in their laptops. What would become of such a student (s) today that the exam is starting if he/she has lost such a device to robbers? It would have been worse if it were in Permanent Site of the University at Nwaniba Road. There, criminals have all the needed hideouts to perpetrate all sorts of criminality and evil seeing that even the hostels are bordered by scary forests. If you have at any point attempted a night class in that part of the University you would have known you were taking a lifetime risk. Students are always left despondent with the purported security outfit called "Santana" who themselves are looking up to students for safety. How could armless persons be securing lives and properties in such a fearsome terrain? Seamen have often gone with this slogan, "safety first", thus I hereby propose that, such slogan should be made a general maxim to every life conscious agency and individual. In the light of the above, I, On behalf of the entire Akwa Ibom State Students studying in the University of Uyo, hereby sound a clarion call on the management of the University to wake up to their responsibility of preserving the students' lives and properties, and also see a way of helping the victims of this untold attack. University of Uyo needs more sophisticated security than just Santana and Man-O-War. # PleaseRescueOurStudentsFromInsecurity........ #COPIED

I can bet with my wife, those robbers are within the university community. Uniuyo is known for its dreaded cult related activities. If Ikpa road is not safe, I wonder how Nwaniba campus would be.

Well, it's quite sad. As you have said i think external security bodies should be involved also. Then they can work together with the man o war, pci, santana and school security men so as to apprehend culprits. My knowledge of man o war and pci operatives is that they are also students, and i feel just like any other Nigerian student they were reading 4 their exams too, their primary aim for entering the school is to acquire education and not chase armed robbers. I dnt knw much abt the santana you wrote about but as for skul security men we all know dat most institutions don't give arms to them. I guess u dnt expect old men to go and pursue armed men with just torches do you, truth be told would you advice a relative to do that? Well even a police man cannot exchange gun fire in a university community, because once a robber is being shot in skul he automatically becomes a student, i want to believe the robbers are students and imagine if one had gotten killed. Well i will say security is everyones business. Thanks