Students at the Yaba College of Technology this morning shut down the institution to protest a vicious attack on one of the students by an unnamed assailant identified simply as a member of a cult group.
The stabbing attack took place last night.
SaharaReporters learnt that the college’s students began their protests around 10 p.m. on Wednesday. “The whole campus erupted with students spilling out to take over every area of the campus in condemnation of the attack,” one of the students told our correspondent. He added, “We continued our demonstration this morning, closing the school gates against any activity on the campus.”
One student described the assault victim as “an athletic fellow,” adding that he was badly stabbed by the culprit.
Some eyewitnesses told SaharaReporters that they were not aware of any dispute between the victim and his attacker prior to the assault.
“In fact, the guy (victim) was even begging [the culprit], asking what offense he had committed, but the cult guy was just muscling the more as if he had hatred for him before,” said a student who witnessed the violence.
Several students disclosed that cult activities had been rampant on the campus of Yaba College of Technology in recent times. Some of the students accused the institution’s management of being too weak to respond to the activities of the increasingly lawless cult groups.
In separate interviews, several students said female victims of a series of rape attacks by cult members had filed reports with the college’s authorities, with little or no action. Other students reported robbery of items belonging to innocent students, unwarranted physical assaults, and daylight initiation rites for new members of cults on the campus.
“Two weeks ago, [cult members] raped one female student,” a student of the arts department told Saharareporters. Another student interjected: “But two weeks is a long time here. Just yesterday, another was raped and they slapped a young man trying to question them.”
At the time of filing this report, the students had gathered on the campus waiting to be addressed by the head of the Students Affairs department. An official of the students union at the college also stated that the rector was on her way to address the students.
“They will only plead with us as usual to remain calm,” one student said. He added: “They won’t necessarily take any effective step to stop this evil or bring the perpetrators to book.”
Credits: Sahara reporters