How 11 Undergraduates Were Killed, 22 Others Kidnapped in 90 Days

Olaitan SodiqNovember 22, 202440

The past three months have been particularly brutal for university students in Nigeria, with a total of 11 students killed and 22 others kidnapped.

The victims were either killed or abducted during various incidents of robbery, cultism, and other violent attacks on campuses across the country.

According to investigations, the affected students were victims of different violent incidents, including robbery attacks, which occurred across Nigerian universities over the past three months.

In one of the incidents, a final-year student of the Ebonyi State University Abakaliki, Favour Ugwuka, committed suicide in her hostel on May 22, 2024. In another incident, a 200-level engineering student at the Ajayi Crowther University in Oyo State, Alex Timileyi, was clubbed to death by his colleague over a claim that he stole a mobile phone.

Two female students of the Joseph Sarwuan University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue State were kidnapped by gunmen in May. Similarly, two students of Confluence State University of Science and Technology in Lokoja, Kogi State capital were kidnapped on May 9 and killed on May 25.

In June, a female student of the University of Benin, Adekolore Glory, was raped to death at the Iyowa Community in Benin City. Also in June, a fresh graduate of the Department of Quantity Surveying, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Ifunanya Miracle lost her life during an attempt to escape a yet-to-be-identified prankster’s robbery on the premises of the school.

In July, a 100-level student of the Department of Medical Laboratory Science, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Favour Okenyi was reportedly missing after attending a chemistry practical and her body was later found near the Eni Njoku male hostel.

Also in July, a student of the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Modupe Ayandare, was found dead outside the university campus. A final-year student of the Tai Solarin University of Education, Hammed Fabiyi, was killed by suspected cultists after he was reportedly dragged out of the examination hall while writing his final papers.

In another incident, a final-year student of the Niger Delta University, Francis Palowei, was stabbed to death by some youths in Amassoma, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa.

Two days ago, a student of the University of Ilorin died in a fatal auto crash at the school’s main gate.