Abia varsity students worry over rising cult activities on campus

Students at Abia State University have expressed concerns over the rising cult-related activities on their campus, saying the menace has become a threat to their safety.

This followed the reported killing of a student of the institution recently, which was attributed to cult-related violence on the campus.

The students are calling on the government to put adequate security measures in place to ensure their security and safety as they continue with their studies.

Speaking with PUNCH Metro, the Student Union Government President of the institution, Chidirim Chinenye, while decrying the menace, called for the deployment of military personnel and the establishment of a military barracks to crack down on the perpetrators to prevent escalation.

He said, “My concern is about the safety of students in the off-campus lodgings, where the majority of the violence has been taking place. We need a military barracks.

“There is a military checkpoint in front of the school, yet, cult activities are on the rise, implying the security is not enough.”

Chinenye urged the students “to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to the authorities.”

Also speaking to our correspondent, the SUG Public Relations Officer, Victor Okon, said campus security should be increased to protect students, adding that the contact information for security agencies or personnel should be readily available to all students.

Okon noted the recent killing of a student on campus was due to a lack of security alertness.

“Security enforcement should be increased on our campus. They should bring more security personnel who will always be on alert so that whenever such a thing happens, we can always call on them.

“And also, they should make their numbers available to the general student community because the boy that was killed recently, if when the culprits were beating him, we could have reached out to the security immediately, maybe they wouldn’t have killed him.

“After they had beaten up the guy, they came back to kill him, shot him, and then left. So, if we had security personnel’s number, we would have reached out to them while they were dealing with the boy, and maybe he wouldn’t have been shot,” Okon said. Punch