Students of the Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, have protested the recurrent attacks by armed robbers in their hostels.
Suspected armed robbers stormed some hostels at the Rivers State University in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, robbing students of their valuables and sexually assaulting two students.
According to reports, the armed men invaded Female Hostel D late Wednesday night and operated at will without interruption.
The thieves, equipped with firearms and machetes, allegedly invaded the hostels before sexually harassing two of their female victims.
The development sparked outrage on campus, with female students protesting repeated criminal attacks in their dorms.
Some students complained that they had been regularly harassed by criminals and that the state university administration had not been effective in addressing the insecurity.
Commenting on the incident, a student said, “The boys came into the hostel from the backside, where our laundry room is. They raped some and took many phones and laptops. After all these, the school security is telling us to wait. Wait for what? If we are their daughters, will they allow this to happen to them?”
Another stated that “there is no way you will say these criminals came from inside the school; they came from outside. If you are coming from outside that late, you have to bribe the school security N1000. They will take N1,000, and then they will allow you inside the school.
“If they actually broke through the school security, it then means the school security is involved. There were gunshots; there is no way the school security will claim they did not hear, and the Mile 3 police are just here, but they did not do anything.”
However, police officers led by the university’s Chief Security Officer, Chukuwma Ebere, appealed to the students, telling them that the issues would be addressed.
Grace Iringe-Koko, the state police public relations officer, confirmed the development and stated that normalcy has already been restored in the institution.
