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Tag: IBB varsity

  • Students protest as robbers kill colleague in IBB varsity

    Students protest as robbers kill colleague in IBB varsity

    Students of the Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida(IBB) University, Lapai took to the streets of Lapai on Monday morning to protest  the killing of one of them by armed robbers.

    It was learnt that robbers invaded a student lodge close to the school gate in the early hours of Monday and in the process killed a 200-level student who resumed for the session on Sunday.

    The robbers also carted away several valuables belonging to the students without any resistance from security agents from the institution.

    The students began protesting at the front of the school gate blocking the road and burning tires and sticks.

    The students said the insecurity in the school began since the beginning of this year and they have been complaining to the school authorities and the police but nothing was done to address it. 

    The students claimed that several female students have been sexually harassed in the course of robbery while several students have lost their valuables to the robbers.

    The students are insisting that they will not disperse until the government and school authority take step to address the insecurity in the school community stressing their lives are no longer safe.

    Calls and messages to the Information Officer of the institution were not responded to as of the time of filing this report.

    The Police Public Relations Officer,  SP Abiodun Wasiu confirmed the killing of the student by armed robbers saying that he was stabbed on the neck.

    “Today being 23rd June, 2025 at about 3am, information was received that at about 2.30am, some hoodlums attacked a student lodge at Ndakitabu area via Lapai. Police operatives of Lapai Division rushed to the scene, but the suspected robbers had escaped.

    “Unfortunately, one Jafar was stabbed on the neck and he was rushed to general hospital Lapai where he was later confirmed dead,” Abiodun said in a statement.

    He also confirmed the students have barricaded Agaie-Lapai road, adding that tactical teams of the Command have been dispatched to Lapai to ensure that normalcy is restored.

  • Robbers loot two ATMs at IBB varsity

    A 15-man gang stormed the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University (IBBU) in Lapai, Niger State and looted the cash in two Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) of a second-generation bank on the campus. MAHMUD ABDULSALAM reports.

    IN  a commando style, a 15-man gang invaded the main campus of the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University (IBBU) in Lapai, Niger State and vandalised the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) of a second-generation bank. The hoodlums carted away an undisclosed amount of cash.

    CAMPUSLIFE gathered that the  uniformed hoodlums entered into the campus on Lapai-Paiko-Minna Road through a bush path.

    A security guard, who was on duty, told our correspondent that the robbers arrived on that fateful day the school premises around 3 am. He said they were armed with guns, machetes, daggers and spiked clubs.

    The robbers, he said, night have been given a tipped-off by someone who knew the ATMs were loaded with cash the previous night.

    The source said the robbers came in three vehicles, which were parked a few metres away from the school gate.

    “They came down and gained access into the campus through a bush path,” the source said.

    A cadet officer, who was assaulted by the robbers said:“I was watching over the school Administrative Building, which is not that far from the ATM gallery. It was around 3am or thereabouts when I saw three armed men dressed in uniforms, standing beside the ATM Gallery and signalling to me to move towards them.

    “They told me they caught some thieves who burgled the ATMs. This made me to believe them. They asked me to follow them to see the robbers. Then, they took me to an open place where I saw my fellow security guards sitting on the ground with their hands and legs tied with ropes. Other members of the robbery gang were keeping watch on them.”

    The cadet, who was injured on the leg, added: “The robbers were violent, hitting with sticks and iron. We all sustained injuries on the heads, hands, bodies and legs. They threatened to even kill anyone who wanted to be stubborn.”

    One of the security men  said they fell for the hoodlums’ trick because of the uniform, adding that the communication among the robbers indicated there was an informant that gave the hoodlums a tip-off. The robbery, he said, was “perfectly executed”.

    He said: “None of us thought they could be robbers because of the way they were dressed. We thought they actually caught thieves, since they were in uniforms. We later knew it was false alarm used to gather all of us in one place. They vandalised and looted the ATMs without being repelled.

    “We were firmly tied; we could not struggle with the robbers, because we had been overpowered. Those who watched over us had daggers and guns with them. There was no way we could challenge them. They simply had a free raid on the ATMs.”

    Although the robbers overpowered the security men guarding the ATMs, CAMPUSLIFE gathered that some other security guards escaped.

    One of the escapees said he ran into the bush when he saw how the robbers were beating his colleagues.  He said there was no  security guard  that could have confronted the “dangerously armed robbers”.

    He said: “The robbers were irritated by the responses of our security men who could not give them the access pin code to unlock the ATMs’ vaults. But what baffled me was how they got the uniforms they used for the operation.”

    It was gathered that the robbers used a sledgehammer, axes and chisels to destroy walls of the ATMs’ gallery. They made their way into the ATMs’ cubicles and looted the cash loaded in them the previous night. The machines were completely destroyed.

    The hoodlums, it was learnt, fled the campus some minutes past 5am, after operating for about two hours.

    CAMPUSLIFE gathered that police arrived on the campus shortly after the robbers escaped.

    The Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof Muhammad Nasir Maiturare, led top members of the management to the scene on assessment.

    He said the incident would investigated to prevent a recurrence.

    Read also: Robbers attack Ekiti bank in an ambulance, kill four

    He said the school security architecture would be “comprehensively reviewed”, to protect the campus from invasion again.

    A student, Amina Zubairu, who was on campus that day, described the robbery as “tragic and unfortunate”. She urged the school to strengthen security  on the campus, noting that the story would have been different if the school was in session.

    She said: “Insecurity in Lapai has always been a thing of concern to students. Now that it has crept into the school campus, something urgent must be done to avoid putting students’ lives in danger.”

    A 300-Level student, Kasim Mohammed, urged the management and Lapai Local Government  to seek government’s intervention  to address the growing cases of robbery in the town.

    He said: “It is imperative that the police and other security agents be deployed in Kobo and the main campus of the university. The school must ensure its security guards are properly trained to be combat-ready for any security breach. The school should provide modern equipment to combat this perennial security problem it is facing. This is very important.”

    All efforts to get the university’s Chief Security Officer (CSO) Major Tete Kudu (retd), to comment failed.

    A policeman was killed and three students injured in a similar robbery attack last November on two banks close to the campus.

  • IBB varsity to produce ‘smoke-less coal’

    The Vice Chancellor of the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai (IBBUL), Niger State, Prof Nasir Maiturare has said the institution will produce smoke-less coal to power electricity plant and for domestic use.

    According to Maiturare, the institution’s research arm is putting final touches to the presentation of the product to the university community and other stakeholders.

    He said though the use of coal for electrical power generation was on the decline worldwide with attendant negative public attitude, “the research team at IBB University has identified the variants among good and bad coals and proffer solution to the problem.

    “Not all coals that are environmentally harmful for electricity power generation and even for the so-called bad coals , the research team led the university Director of Applied Research, Prof Nuhu Obaje has identified the processing of cleaning up such coals for electricity generation,’’ he said.

    Maiturare said the introduction of smokeless coal for domestic usage would reduce the disastrous effect of firewood and charcoal usage for domestic cooking on our eco-system, such as desert encroachment and poor rainfall patterns.

    The VC noted that the research findings had shown that the use of 30 per cent diluted berzonic and formic acid on coals makes its smokeless, thereby allowing the abundant coals deposits in the country to be used for power generation in a friendly and environmentally sustainable manner.

    Obaje said the university received  N21 million grant from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) for the research and that the team had established the abundance of the coal deposits in Okada, Ogboyaga, Omeleh areas in Kogi State, Owukpa in Benue State and Lafia-Obi in Nasarawa State which are geochemically and petrologically characterised.

    He said finding shew that some of the coal deposits have high hydrogen content, which combust seamlessly producing little or no smoke as oppose to those coal with low hydrogen which has low index value and combust slowly, thereby producing smoke which can also be treated to stop it from producing smoke.

    Obaje noted that most of the coal deposits in the country have high hydrogen content, which make them combustible and smokeless when generating electricity. ‘’We hope coal will return as an important component of generating electricity in the country soon,” he said.

  • IBB varsity loses ‘principled’ dean

    IBB varsity loses ‘principled’ dean

    The Dean, Faculty of Management and Social Sciences at the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University (IBBU) in Lapai, Niger State, Dr Victor Egwemi, is dead. CAMPUSLIFE gathered that the former Head of Department (HOD) of Political Science died after a brief illness.The nature of the illness was not revealed, but CAMPUSLIFE gathered that he died at a private hospital in Garki, Abuja.

    The news of Egwemi’s death cast a pall of grief on the department, leaving his colleagues and students heartbroken. Lectures and other activities were suspended to honour the deceased, who was described by students as a “principled man”.

    A statement by the Deputy Registrar and Head of Information, Mallam Baba Akote, described the deceased as a “dedicated teacher and gifted scholar”, adding that the university management was saddened by his death.

    The statement read: “Many lecturers and students have testified that the late Egwemi was a frontline academic, a dependable mentor to his students and a scholar of no mean repute. He will terribly be missed by all those who crossed his path.

    ‘’We pray Almighty God comfort his family, students and teeming associates. Necessary plans have been concluded to ensure that the late scholar is given a befitting burial.”

    A graduating Political Science student, Awwal Ibrahim Ndako, described the deceased as “an eloquent speaker, astute political scientist and a principled mentor”.

    He said: “The late Dr Egwemi was a workaholic. There is hardly a book on political science and related fields which does not have mention of his name as author, co-author or editor. How he found the time and energy to organise conferences and present papers and still attended to us was puzzling. He made political science an easy discipline for many of us. We love to listen to him whenever he analysed issues.”

     

     

  • IBB varsity gets N18m for solid minerals research

    The Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, University, Lapai has been launched by the Raw Materials Research Development Council to commence research on the search for solid minerals deposits in three states in the country.

    The vice chancellor of the university, Professor Muhammad Nasirudeen Maiturare, who disclosed this to newsmen at Mashegu during the take-off of the research, said the amount advanced for the research is N18 million, adding that the university would be working on the characterisation of the minerals found in the locations targeted for the project.

    He said the research covers three states in the North-Central zone, which include Niger, Nasarawa and Yobe states, adding that after the research, there are indications that it will be replicated in other parts of the country.

    Maiturare said the outcome of the research will promote the development and utilisation of industrial minerals for use in industries and contribute towards the mandate of the Raw Materials Research Development Council.

    “Solid minerals have been identified as a priority area and any research in that sector would contribute to the growth and development of the nation and address major challenges in our technological drive and in addressing our employment problem.”

    Stating that the university has been identified as one of the best in geological research, the VC said that the research, which has already commenced, has discovered mineral deposit sites that contain significant reserves that could be used for many years, adding that five sites would be visited in Niger State.

    The leader of the research team said that they have discovered a site with large volume of clay in Mashegu Local Government Area that would serve ceramic or sanitary ware industries for 25 years.

  • IBB varsity begins research on smokeless fuel

    Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University (IBBU) in Lapai, Niger State, has begun research on how to produce smokeless fuel from coal. Nuhu Obaje, a professor in the Department of Geology and Mining, is supervising the research.

    Obaje said the university has released funds to bankroll the research, which seeks to use coal to generate eco-friendly fuel and electricity.

    He said the research would be completed within two years and would involve support from students. Obaje said the findings of the research would boost electricity generation and energy availability in the country.

    With 80 per cent of the nation’s power generation coming from hydro sources, Obaje explained that the project was pertinent to explore other sources that would have eco-friendly benefits.

    He said: “Smokeless fuel does not produce visible smoke when it burns. It is produced by heating coal to a certain temperature in the absence of oxygen. However, only specific physio -chemical parameters are suitable for the production of smokeless fuel.”

    The don also revealed that the proposed research work would involve the geological mapping of surface exposures and log drilled cores of coal deposits in different parts of the country, including places, such as Makara and Kudu in Niger State, Okaba, Ogboyaga and Omelehu in Kogi State; Lafia Obi in Nassarawa State, and Owukpa in Benue state.

    According to him, the outcome of the study is expected to change the condition of power supply and reduce the use of kerosene, gas cookers and firewood.

  • Sex scandal rocks IBB varsity

    Sex scandal rocks IBB varsity

    The Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University (IBBU) in Lapai, Niger State, is probing the sexual harassment allegation levelled against a teacher, Mallam Ishaq Yusuf, by a student, Chidimma Mercy Samuel. The teacher, who was found in the student’s room at night, denies the allegation. He claims he was framed up. WALE AJETUNMOBI reports.

    How did a lecturer find himself in such a compromising situation? This is the knot a panel is seeking to untie as it probes the allegation of sexual harassment against Mallam Ishaq Yusuf, a teacher in the Department of English Language and Communication Studies of the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University (IBBU) in Lapai, Niger State. The lecturer was allegedly found naked in a female student’s room around 10pm on February 21.

    Chidimma Mercy Samuel, a 400-Level student in the department, accused the lecturer  of coming to her hostel with a plan to sleep with her. But, Yusuf claimed that he was framed up. He alleged that the student conspired with some boys to abduct him.

    But, the images of a series of WhatsApp conversations between the lecturer and the student, obtained by The Nation, paint a different picture. They indicated that Yusuf planned to visit Chidimma in her hostel at an arranged time. He allegedly used his MTN number – 08035520941 – to chat with the student.

    Yusuf was allegedly caught in Chidimma’s room by a group of boys just before the act. The English lecturer, who allegedly drove himself to the student’s hostel, hurriedly left without taking his two mobile phones, an ATM card and his underpants.

    It all happened at the Montana Lodge, an off-campus hostel in Lapai, where Chidimma lives. Chidimma has alleged threats to her life, following the incident. She said some anonymous persons called and threatened her with death after the incident.

    Chidimma claimed Yusuf started disturbing her from her first year in the school. Her refusal to yield ground, she claimed, earned her a carry-over in his course.

    She said: “The lecturer has been disturbing me since I was in 100-Level. He would tell me how much he likes me and would come to meet me where I was reading to disturb me. I declined to date him. I told him I was not interested in anything he was saying. Then, he failed me in his course, which I took in second semester of 100-Level.

    “I didn’t protest the result, because I did not want to meet him for any help. I knew I would do better the next time. I was able to pass the carry-over course when the department brought another lecturer to take the course.”

    Chidimma said Yusuf was unrelenting in his pursuit, claiming: “It got worse when I was in 300-Level.”

    Chidimma, whose wedding comes up on March 21, added: “The lecturer purposely failed me in two of his courses I took, because I turned down his advances towards me.”

    What culminated in the February 21 incident started on the eve of the last Valentine’s Day. Yusuf, according to the WhatsApp conversation, allegedly asked Chidimma to see him in private.

    “I asked him if there was a problem; he replied that there was a problem. I asked him what the problem was, but he refused to tell me in the conversation. He insisted I see him in private,” the student claimed.

    Chidimma claimed to have complained to former Head of the Department (HOD) of English Language and Communication Studies, Dr Ebenezer Ogungbe.

    “I told Dr Ogungbe about the conversation the lecturer had been having with me. The former HOD said I should tell him (Yusuf) to see him. When I told him Dr Ogungbe requested to see him, he didn’t reply me. He only said goodnight,” she said.

    On February 20, Chidmma alleged, Yusuf again chatted with her around 11pm, complaining about her reluctance to see him. He then allegedly demanded to see Chidimma that night, but the student said she declined because it was late.

    She alleged: “The following day, he sent me messages and said he would see me later. In the evening of the day, he sent me another message, asking where I was. I told him I was in my hostel. He said he could not imagine ‘how it was going to be’. I was confused. I asked him what he meant by that statement.

    “He said he wanted to see me that evening and he did not want the meeting point to be at his office, so that people would not see us together. I told him to come to my hostel, because my fiancé was around. He said he would come to my hostel at 10pm. I called Dr. Ogungbe again to inform him about the development.

    “My fiancé was already angry and had started suspecting my relationship with the lecturer. He felt I was the one chasing the lecturer about for marks. I explained everything to him and he said he would like to know why the lecturer wanted to see me. I told the lecturer to come to my hostel if he really wanted to see me, but he did not show up.”

    After Chidimma’s fiancé left for Abuja the following day, Yusuf allegedly called to say he would be at her hostel in the evening.

    Chidimma claimed: “I quickly informed my fiancé, who called his friends to come around my hostel to confirm things for him. My fiancé thought the lecturer wanted to kill me after sleeping with me. When the lecturer called me to say he was on his way to my hostel, I alerted my fiancé’s friends who positioned themselves around my apartment.

    “Immediately he got into my room at 10pm, he checked around to be sure there was nobody with me. He checked my bathroom and kitchen. He didn’t know that people were beside the windows outside, listening to our conversation.

    “I asked him what he wanted from me. He sat close to me on the bed and extended his arm around my shoulder. He asked if I knew the reason I had been failing his courses. I told him I did not know. He said it was because I had refused to ‘comply’ and ‘play along’.

    “He said that was the reason he needed to come to my hostel and ‘rub minds together’ with me. He said he would ensure that I passed his courses after sleeping with me. He told me that without sleeping with him, I won’t pass the courses and I won’t graduate from the school.”

    After making his intention known, he allegedly got up, went close to the bathroom and pulled off his clothes. He only had his boxers on him as he approached the student.

    Chidimma alleged: “I pretended to be playing along. I asked him to pull off his boxers too. He obliged. That was when I called for help and my fiancé’s friends barged in and saw the lecturer naked. They started filming him and taking his photographs as he was naked.”

    It was gathered that Yusuf begged the boys not to expose him. Asked what he was doing in a female student’s room at night, he allegedly pleaded that the matter be resolved amicably and promised to pass Chidimma in all his courses.

    Yusuf was made to write an undertaking that he would not disturb the girl again before he was allowed to go. The lecturer allegedly wrote the undertaking. As he left in a hurry, Yusuf was said to have forgotten his underwear ATM card and mobile phones, which were still with Chidimma at the time of this report.

    The next day, The Nation gathered that Yusuf  reported the case to the management. He alleged that Chidimma sent a group of cultists to abduct him and dispossess him of his ATM card and mobile phones – a Nokia and Infinix – at gun point.

    Chidimma, he claimed, connived with the boys to kidnap him on his way home.

    “I was forced to remove my clothes,” he said, claiming: “I received calls from the girl in the evening. She asked me to see her. She said a boy whose test paper I tore earlier in the day during a test wanted me to help talk to the lecturer taking the course for a make-up test. I told her they should see me the next day.

    “On my way home, I saw the girl at a junction close to her hostel. She was standing by the roadside with some boys. As soon as she entered my car, the boys also came in and pressed a metal on my back. So, I was forced to drive to the girl’s house.

    “As we got into the room, they removed my clothes and poured water on me. They demanded that I give them ransom before I could be freed. I was accused of making attempt to rape the girl. The boys humiliated me.”

    But Chidimma denied framing up her teacher. She said she had been receiving threat calls.

    “I was frightened by the calls and had to leave for my safety. Some people called me that they were after me. The school is no longer safe for me,” she said.

    The management has invited the lecturer and the student to explain what transpired.

    Chidimma said her department’s head had called her to confirm management’s letter inviting her to the panel.

    Contacted, Dr Ogungbe said he was aware of the matter, but declined further comment in order “not to pre-empt the panel’s investigation into the matter”.

    The IBBU Director of Information, Alhaji Baba Akote, said the panel would unravel what happened.

    Akote said: “I won’t make further comments on the matter, except to tell you that the incident is being investigated by the school panel. This is my position.”

    In a statement on its website last Friday, the school said it would take appropriate action against anyone indicted by the panel.

    The statement reads: “The university management is aware of the recent unfortunate incident between a male lecturer and a female student. In view of this, management has set up a committee to investigate the immediate and remote cause(s) of the incident. The committee is headed by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and involves all stakeholders in the matter.

    “Accordingly, all parties involved are hereby advised to exercise restraint. The university community and the general public are assured of the management’s resolve to take appropriate disciplinary action against any party found guilty after the investigation.”

  • Governor pays surprise visit to IBB varsity

    Governor pays surprise visit to IBB varsity

    There was excitement at the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University (IBBU) in Lapai, Niger State, when its Visitor, Governor Abubakar Sani Bello,  visited Halls of Residence unannounced.

    The governor said he was passing by and decided to see how students were faring. The students  told him their challenges. They complained about poor electricity supply and urged the governor to install generator in their hostels.

    Replying, Governor Bello promised them a generator before the semester examination. He also promised to build more hostels on the campus.

  • NUC approves 14 courses for IBB varsity

    NUC approves 14 courses for IBB varsity

    The National Universities Commission (NUC) has approved 14 academic programmes of the Niger State owned Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University (IBBU) Lapai.

    The Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Muhammad Maiturare, disclosed this on Tuesday in Minna during a courtesy call on Gov. Abubakar Bello of Niger.

    He said that the visit was to update the governor on the new status of some courses offered by the institution following the National Universities Commission’s accreditation.

    Maiturare said that the NUC gave full accreditation to 11 courses and gave interim accreditation to three other courses presented by the institution.

    He said that the immense contribution of the state government to the needs of the institution made the feat possible.

    “The state’s government prompt intervention given to the institution before the NUC accreditation made this great feat achievable,” he said.

    Responding, Bello reiterated the priority given to education by the administration as a tool for social and economic development of the people of the state.

    He said that science, technology and education courses would receive government’s attention as a means of supporting Federal Government’s effort to boost technological advancement of the country.

    Bello also gave the assurance that the proposed medical programme of the institution would be given the needed support.

    He directed the management of the institution to look inwards toward improving their Internally Generated Revenue.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the courses given accreditation by the NUC include Business Administration, Agriculture, French, History and International Studies.

    Others are Agric Education, Biology Education, Geography Education, Mathematics Education, Guardian and Counselling, Food Science and Geology.

    The courses NUC gave interim accreditation are Chemistry Education, Computer Science Education and Physics Education.

  • IBB varsity commissions clean coal research to boost economic growth

    IN the national quest for alternative sources of energy to boost economic development, the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai has commissioned a team of researchers to assess coal deposit in four states of the country to be used as raw materials for the production of new brand of smokeless source of energy in homes.

    Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof Muhammad Maiturare while commissioning the team said that the project, code named: “Clean Coal Project” and worth N21 million, was listed among 13 projects that received awards based on the competitive Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) National Research Fund Expert Assessment in June.

    He explained that besides University of Ilorin, the IBB University was the only other institution in northern Nigeria that won awards.

    Maiturare admonished the department of Geology & Mining and research team to comply with the timelines set for the project so that other research proposals of the university to the TETFund could be considered.

    Applauding the Federal Government for providing a window of opportunity to Nigerian universities to undertake application-driven innovative researches through TETFund, the Vice-Chancellor said that such projects help to develop capacities of students and upcoming researchers as well as provide additional equipment for universities.

    Earlier in his presentation, the leader of the research team who is also the Dean, Faculty of Applied Sciences and Technology in the university, Prof Nuhu Obaje, explained that the types of coal needed for the project were deposited in parts of Nasarawa, Kogi, Benue and Niger States, pointing out that preliminary investigations by his team revealed that the areas had the mineral resources in large quantities.

    Obaje said clean coal would help to reduce the hazards of green-house emissions and preserve forests in the country.

    He said the project was in collaboration with the Department of Geology, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and expressed optimism that the new energy product would be available to rural communities so as to curb incessant felling of trees for firewood by villagers.