ABUJA – The management of the Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi, has ordered the immediate and indefinite closure of the institution, following a violent students’ protest in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Angry students of the institution embarked on a violent protest at about 10 a.m. after an alleged midnight robbery at the male hostel.
The management announced the closure in a statement issued by the registrar, Kasimu Salihu, and made available to journalists in Bauchi on Tuesday.
It stated: “The management of the Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi has received the disturbing news of some unscrupulous elements who invaded the male students’ hostel, taking away their belongings and injuring two students.
“Consequent upon this sad development, students came out of the Polytechnic Main Gate to express their justifiable frustration, calling on management to act.
“While management acted immediately with all principal officers and management staff showing up to address the students and situation, it was established that hoodlums, who do not mean well for the students and institution, had taken over what was meant to be a peaceful protest.
“Against the background of this ugly situation, the management hereby orders the immediate closure of academic activities.”
The statement added that the students were given two hours to vacate the campus until further notice.
Some of the students, who spoke on the condition of anonymity with journalists during the protest, said that the robbery took place in the middle of the night.
They also said that the institution’s management had failed to provide adequate security.
One of the students, Ismail Abubakar, expressed frustration over the development.
Mr Abubakar said that it was disturbing that “students are not safe off campus and on campus.
“They collected more than 50 phones during the robbery and wounded a couple of students with dangerous weapons”.
The student union government president, Haruna Umar, who also decried the attack, said it had never happened in the history of the institution.
Meanwhile, the Bauchi police command says it has caught and detained three suspected members of the gang behind the robbery.
The command’s spokesman, CSP Ahmed Wakili, confirmed the development in a statement issued via its online platform.
According to Mr Wakili, the command “received intelligence through the chief security officer (CSO) serving with the institution.
“The intelligence disclosed a security breach by unidentified hoodlums, who trespassed into the institution through the fenced wall and forcefully took the students’ phones.
“During the skirmishes, some of the students confronted the hoodlums, which resulted in various degrees of injuries to the students.
“On receipt of the report, teams of detectives attached to E’ Division, immediately dispatched to the scene, conveyed the victims to the institution’s clinic for first aid,” the statement added.
It further disclosed that the command later dispatched a reinforcement team to the scene of the students’ protest to end the molestation of innocent people, breaking into and looting of shops and valuables.
Mr Wakili explained that the operatives applied minimal force to disperse the illegal crowd after they encountered initial resistance.
He said that the situation was successfully brought under control, adding that 36 male and 12 female persons were being detained for alleged involvement in the protest.
He also stated that the three robbery suspects admitted during interrogation “that they criminally conspired, invaded the students’ hostels, threatened and forcefully dispossessed the students of their valuables, including phones and laptops.
“They also confessed to have inflicted various degrees of injuries on some of the students, who attempted to challenge them.”
(NAN)