Armed robbers have reportedly invaded apartments of students of the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, Ogun State, The Punch reports. The robbers were said to have raped female students and left with valuables.
It was gathered that the robbers, numbering about eight, attacked off campus students in areas such as School 2 and Deuteronomy.
Apart from raping the female students, the armed men were also said to have made away with their telephone handsets, laptops, money and other valuables.
A source said, “On Saturday night, unknown gunmen struck again. They broke into buildings to rob. They fired shots, broke the burglary proof to gain entrance into buildings. One of the students was hit by a bullet in the eye.
“They raped female students and made away with their valuables. We are crying out for help. We have been on this for over a week now. Nobody is doing anything about it. Some of our girls were raped, houses were destroyed. We don’t know what is happening. Nigerians should come to our aid.”
Another source told our correspondent that a number of the student have fled the school environment to their various homes as there seems to be no help in sight.
It was learnt that landlords in students-dominated areas in Ilaro met on April 12 to take some decisions on the security situation in the town.
Further findings showed that at the end of the meeting, it was resolved that all Community Development Associations in Ilaro must hire night guards and students must obtain tenancy forms.
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said he was not aware of the incident.
He promised to get back to our correspondent after he must have been briefed by the Divisional Police Officer in Ilaro.
But the Special Assistant to the State Governor, Azeez Adeyemi, confirmed the incident, saying, however, that he could not substantiate the claims of rape.
According to Adeyemi, the state government is making efforts handle the situation, adding that the National Association of Nigerian Students is working with the government to stop the attack on students of the polytechnic.
He disclosed that that there would be a meeting with the state Commissioner of Police, Lanre Bankole, later on Sunday to find a lasting solution to the problem.
“We are not leaving any stone unturned to put an end to the matter. We are on it already. NANS is also on it. We are equally meeting with the CP tonight. So, we are on top of the matter,” he said.
