Usmanu Danfodiyo University (UDUS), Sokoto is often referred to as the ‘most peaceful university in Nigeria’. But it seems no longer so as petty stealing and pickpocketing are rife at the university, MUHYIDEEN KOLAWOLE a 300-Level English Language of UDUS, reports.
His pale eyes betrayed his sorrow. His room was burgled. The thief made away with his ‘HP black bag’, which contained his clothes and credentials.
“It was in November,” Usman Abdul Rahman recounted. “We all left the room after 8pm. Some of them (roommates) came back to the room before noon, but I came by 10pm.
“My roommates noticed nothing, but when I came back and realised that my handouts, which were in the bag, were scattered on my bed, I raised the alarm.”
Had the thief realised that his credentials were tucked under the bag, perhaps, he would have been kind enough to leave them behind just as he did with the handouts, a sad Usman said.
Usman lost all his original credentials, including his Ordinary National Diploma (OND) certificate. Also in the bag was a wallet containing the victim’s school’s library, clinic and National ID cards as well as his ATM card.
“Where will I start now? Everything has been stolen,” said a distraught Usman.
Usman, who has reported the matter to the school’s security, is, optimistic that he would find the documents.
“If only I could see those documents or the security could help me find them, I would be glad,” Usman said.
Nurudeen Akeem was another victim. Unlike Usman, however, he is one of the fresh students in UDUS, and the sudden disappearance of his luggage was, to him, an indication of the state of insecurity on campus.
A 100-Level undergraduate of Physics, Nurudeen, who has just collected his confirmation letter as a new student, recounted how an unknown person barged into his room, and left with his luggage, which contained his clothes and a wallet.
Said Nurudeen: ”I saw the bag the previous day (Thursday). We slept with others the previous day and in the morning, which was Friday, we cooked and ate. When it was time for Jumat, I went for my bath. But, to my surprise, upon my return, I couldn’t find the bag again.
“My credentials were not stolen. I didn’t put them in my bag,” he said adding: “I put them in the brown bag along with my wallet which contains my ATM card.”
“I only suspect the Yaro boys,” he said after CAMPUSLIFE probed him further on who he suspected.
Yaro are a horde of uneducated young boys who often run errands for male students and lecturers on campus in exchange for tips or alms. The females are called yarinnya.
Nurudeen said he, alongside his roommates, once came face to face with a yaro who barged into their room, not knowing they were inside. Seeing them, the invader promptly took to his heels.
Four days before the incident, Nurudeen was also a target of a pickpocket who made away with his handset when he went to the hostel mini-market to buy kerosene.
A fresh student of Medicine, Aliyu Abdullateef, also had his personal effects stolen.
“I entered library at 11:30am. I dropped my bag where others put theirs. When it was 1:10pm, I came out for prayer. I, then, looked at the spot my bag was kept and saw nothing,” he recalled.
“Initially, I thought it was moved to another spot, but it later dawned on me that it had been stolen,” Abdullateef added.
The bag contained the victim’s confirmation letter, receipts of school fees, Form 02, clinic ID card, hostel clearance, and a new Islamic book.
“I have been to the University of Abuja and I know the level of security there. But here (UDUS), security is lax. I will advise that the level of security be improved.”
Fatimoh Balarabe Ibrahim Hostel is one of the female hostels. Not long ago, one of the female residents Rodiyah Omotoyosi had her handset stolen.
“I forgot to pick up my phone after I finished ablution in the morning. I ran back quickly, but nothing was found,” the victim recounted.
Omotoyosi, however, could not say specifically if the phone was stolen by fellow female students or a yarinya.
CAMPUSLIFE checks revealed that there is free movement in or outside the hostel since there is no security official to man its gate.
Azeezat Oyeleke, a 100-Level Fishery undergraduate, expressed shock over the recurring theft on campus. Azeezat recalled how she was relieved of her handset in the school’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) unit, the week she was offered admission in UDUS.
Still engulfed in joy, Azeezat had gone to print her invoice at the ICT unit to enable her pay her tuition.
She was on the queue with others as instructed by the ICT officials when her phone suddenly ‘screamed’. Realising where she was, Azeezat promptly picked the gadget, answered the caller, hung up and carefully slid the phone back into her hand bag that also contained her credentials.
And because the queue was long, Azeezat felt the irresistible urge to pick her phone again and chat a few friends up. She then dug her hand inside the bag, and that was when the reality hit her like a thunderbolt.
“What, my phone!” she shouted in the ICT hall.
The next voice Azeezat heard was: ‘second time!’ She promptly looked in the direction of the speaker, who turned out to be one of the ICT officials who, alongside other colleagues, had earlier witnessed a similar incident that day.
“I was told that N30,000 had been stolen from a student that same day,“she said, adding: “If they had had a security camera, they would have been able to track the thieves.”
With repeated cases of burgling at the hostels, CAMPUSLIFE approached some security officers manning the hostels. They, in turn, claimed that even though it is their duty to keep watch over students’ lives and properties, no official complaint had been lodged by any victim.
Directing the CAMPUSLIFE correspondent to a big exercise book, the Head of Security for the morning section Mallam Abdul Raheem Muhammad, said whoever comes to report cases of theft would be instructed to write his complaint, name, block and admission number in the book, adding that such person would be ‘immediately located’ in case any property related to the report is found.
Meanwhile, Students’ Union President Ibrahim Kalgo explained the efforts by the SU to tackle the trend.
“Whenever I’m informed about any theft, I go to the Chief Security Officer (CSO) so that we can find a solution to it,” Kalgo said, lamenting that the SU’s secretary-general’s room was also burgled last session.
Kalgo assured of the university’s security officials’ preparedness to address the issue.
However, the management has decried the worrying spate of theft, attributing the development to uncontrollable movements of the yaros and yarinyas, poor communication tools and the need for more security manpower.
The institution’s CSO, Prof Azeez Abdullahi Yahya Gwandu, said he hasn’t received any report of stealing since this session started.
Gwandu also confessed there were some bad eggs among the students.
“They (students) are the most culprits we have caught. They are also stealing one another’s properties. There are bad and good eggs among them,” Gwandu claimed.
According to him, victims often fail to report such incidents to security officials.
“My number is always open for everyone,” the CSO said.
Gwandu recounted when friends of a dying female student reached out to him at midnight, adding that he immediately rushed down to pick the patient to the hospital. “I made sure that the doctor started to attend to her before I left,” he further explained.
Gwandu announced that the institution would soon adopt a ‘communication system’, which would enable students to report cases of theft with ease. This gadget, according to him, would have dual purposes. “It will work as radio where you can broadcast and it can be used to call,” he added.
“The management has also built barriers at all the entrances to the university, which are locked by 8:00pm. Anybody coming to the university after 8:00pm will use the main gate. Two have been constructed and soon the rest will also be done.
“We also have a joint security meeting, which comprised the DSS (Directorate of State Security) covering this area. From the meeting, we brought many solutions which the vice chancellor approved.
“We are also about to initiate a jacket for the motorcycle riders, with numbers of identification behind their backs and the UDUS symbol of recognition,” he added.