Students of the Wa campus of the University for Development Studies (UDS), want school’s authorities and the Upper West regional security council to urgently find a lasting solution to the increasing cases of armed robbery and other criminal attacks on students, else they will hold series of demonstrations.
This follows reports of over eight separate robbery incidents on students of the institution within the past one week by some some unknown armed men, who have been terrorizing students over the years.
Mohammed Jaraa, President of the Students Representative Council (SRC) of the UDS Wa campus in an interview with Citi News said, “most of the victims received cutlass and gun wounds, whilst some female students were raped” after loosing their belongings such as money, laptops and other valuables to the perpetrators.
[contextly_sidebar id=”vVpHmAWcSrqnUWChXA0obd4uFSAFegGK”]He said more students have fallen victim to the endless attacks especially in the last couple of months.
The SRC President disclosed that several attempts by the student leadership of the university to find a solution with their authorities have yielded no results as more cases are being recorded.
“As we speak, a lot of students are on admission at the Upper West regional hospital in Wa, and there seems to be no solution” Jaraa explained.
He added that the situation is seriously impacting negatively on students as “most of them now find it difficult to commute from Bamahu and the Wa township to the school’s campus for studies”.
He further stated that students who reside on the campus also can no longer move at night for fear of being attacked.
The students have therefore given the Upper west regional security council and the leadership of the UDS a 3- day ultimatum to find a lasting solution to the security challenges confronting the university, or they will be compelled to embark on series of demonstrations to press home their demand.
Citi News checks at the Upper West Regional Police Command revealed that over 16 cases of stealing and robbery were reported from the UDS within the last one month.
The Upper West Regional Police Commander, DCOP Boapeah Okyere, in an interview with Citi News said his attention has been drawn to the security situation at the university, but blamed the situation on some miscreants among the students.
“As an institution, we are not reneging on our mandate of ensuring peace within the municipality. But situation at the university is caused by the students themselves”.
He said a 24-hour police patrol has been mounted at the university to maintain law and order.
Citi News can report that a final year student of the UDS, Suleman Shafiu, is in the grips of the police for stealing a laptop from his colleague.
Meanwhile, attempts by Citi News to get authorities of the school to comment on the security challenges confronting the university were unsuccessful.
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By: Mahama Latif/citifmonline.com/Ghana.