The Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University, Lokoja, Prof. Olayemi Akinwumi, has said that students were reluctant to take up hostel accommodation because of the activities of bandits and kidnappers.
Chairman, House Committee on University Education, Rep. Abubakar Fulata, said this in a statement he issued in Abuja on Wednesday. The statement followed a visit by the committee to the university as part of its oversight functions.
Fulata quoted Akinwumi as saying the university even the two hostels with a combined capacity of 500 occupants were empty. The vice-chancellor said the university management was also afraid of allocating the hostels because of fear of activities of kidnappers and bandits.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that some students of Kogi State University were kidnapped in May. Two of them were killed by their kidnappers. He said the school was vulnerable to the activities of bandits and kidnappers because it lacked perimeter fencing.
"That is why we did not allow our students to move to the hostels”, he said.
He further quoted Akinwumi as commending the lawmaker's visit to the school while seeking the assistance of the lawmakers to help address the challenges of a new school like Federal University Lokoja. He said infrastructure challenges as well as insecurity had been the major obstacles to the smooth running of the university.
He said apart from the infrastructural challenges, employing competent hands into various faculties and departments remained a challenge.
Fulata promised the support of the committee to ensure that the university had the necessary infrastructure to carry out research, teaching and learning.
“These are very serious challenges given the university’s unique location. We are going to do our best to assist it to overcome the infrastructure challenge.
“With regards to security. We will take it up with relevant agencies and committees to really come to the aid of the university.
“The school management, teaching and non-teaching staff as well as students are perpetually in fear of bandits and kidnappers. They hardly stay beyond 6 pm on campus’’, he said.
Fulata said while the lawmakers were not against the university authorities revenue generation drives, it would be an infraction if the generated revenue was spent without being appropriated.