Fear of robbers, kidnappers grips UNICAL, CRUTECH

>>Following frequent attacks by armed robbers and kidnappers on the University of Calabar and the Cross River State University of Technology, Calabar, many of their students and members of staff now live in fear. Only last week, precisely on May 2, gunmen stormed the UNICAL staff quarters and abducted the wife of a lecturer, Mrs. Nancy Ndifon, alongside her daughter, Oyebah, who is a student of the university. The same gunmen, our correspondent gathered, also abducted a medical doctor, David Iniama, on the premises as he was driving into his residence. The two examples seem to be the latest in several cases of robbery, rape and abduction at both institutions. In March, gunmen suspected to be robbers had also invaded the UNICAL staff quarters, ransacking lecturers’ houses, including that of a medical consultant, Dr. Wilfred Ndifon, whose wife and daughter were victims of the latest kidnap. According to the Chairmen of the UNICAL and CRUTECH branches of Academic Staff Union of Universities, Dr. Tony Eyang and Dr. Emmanuel Ettah, respectively, the development has instilled fear in the residents just as it has affected the quality of education in the schools. They noted in a statement, “The kidnappings in UNICAL remind us of the increasingly alarming insecurity across the country and the danger that academics are exposed to. The kidnappings bring to the fore the porous security situation in the university, which members of staff have always drawn the attention of the university and security agencies. “Time and again there have been cases of armed robbery attacks on the staff quarters. The university security personnel are apparently ill-equipped to tackle the criminals. “The ugly situation has generated an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty, with a devastating impact on teaching and learning. Normalcy in the university can only be restored by the immediate release of the abducted persons. The psychological trauma occasioned by the kidnappings cannot be adequately described.” At both institutions, which share unfenced boundaries with the creeks of the Calabar estuaries, our correspondent learnt that cases of theft occur daily at the residential quarters and in some of the hostels. The same situation obtains at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, which is also within the neighbourhood. The porous boundary at the hospital has also left workers and patients at the mercy of marauders. For a UNICAL female student, Susan Okoro, the university community has been living in fear in the last few months, following increasing cases of robbery attacks. She lamented, “Apart from these big cases of robbery, the increasing cases of petty thefts along the way leading out of the small gate of the school are going on unabated. We lose our GSM phones daily to petty thieves along the streets. The university seems now to be a safe haven for armed robbers and kidnappers.” Speaking on the development, the state Chairman of the Nigeria Medical Association, Dr. Offiong Ikpeme, regretted that health and university workers had become targets of armed robbery attacks in the last couple of months. Beside the incidence of crime, authorities of the CRUTECH say the institution is under the threat of land speculators. Aggrieved students and workers of the university had a few months ago protested against the growing insecurity on campus following the activities of land speculators allegedly from Efut community. The protesters, acting under the aegis of the Association of Residents of Staff Quarters, CRUTECH Calabar campus, conveyed their petition in a letter delivered to the Vice- Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Anthony Owan-Enoh. The Chairman of the association, Dr. Samuel Ntino, noted that crime had increased in the institution. He said, “You are aware that for some time, the main campus became the subject of constant raids by robbers and hired assassins. Frustrated resident workers on the main campus took their fate in their hands by sourcing alternative security arrangements.” A UNICAL lecturer, Mr. Ugoji Nwabueze, who said that robbers constantly attacked the student hostels, added that the encroachment had resulted in the desecration of the academic community. But a CRUTECH lecturer, Dr. Oyo Oyo-Ita, was more scathing in his appraisal of the development. He said, “The security on campus is very porous. “Armed robbery is a daily thing, while burglary is a minute by minute thing. A large portion of the institutions is not fenced. The majority of those who enter the school pass through many illegal entries.” Meanwhile, the UNICAL Public Relations Officer, Mr. Effiong Eyo, said the institution had increased security presence on campus. He said, “There is a strong security presence on campus. We have also increased the patrols in areas where we have the neighbouring community encroaching into our land. The university had sometime in the past written to the Federal Government to carry out perimeter fencing of the campus,