by Oge Okonkwo

Three female students of the  Federal College of Agriculture, Akure, Ondo State  were raped when hoodlums invaded their campus in the early hours of Tuesday.

The act sparked protests among the students. Coming out in scores, they blocked the ever-busy Fiwasaye/Owo Road, causing a blockage that lasted many hours.

Leadership reports:

Scores of students of the Federal College of Agriculture, Akure, Ondo State staged a protest in the state capital on Tuesday, against alleged rape of their female colleagues by some suspected hoodlums.

They alleged that three female students of the institution fell victim when the hoodlums invaded their campus in the early hours of Tuesday.

The aggrieved students blocked the ever-busy Fiwasaye/Owo Road, causing a gridlock that lasted many hours.

President of FECA Students Union, Mr. Oladapo Akindamini, explained that about five hoodlums allegedly led by a part-time student of the school, invaded the campus around midnight and headed for the female hostel.

He said, “Other students were alerted by the noise from the female hostel only to discover that two of the female students had been raped while the third student was molested and cut with a machete.

“Two other students were also wounded by the rapists. We have taken them to the general hospital for treatment.”

He added that the students, who were preparing for their examination, rushed out of their hostels and apprehended one of the hoodlums who was handed over to a security officer in the school. He said the officer kept the suspect in an open room instead of handing him over to the police. He added that the lapse gave the hoodlum the oportunuty to escape.

Akindamini said, “The major grouse of the students was that the security personnel can no longer guarantee the safety of students and staff living within the school campus.

“What further angered the students was the conduct of the Chief Security Officer who allowed one of the hoodlums arrested by the students to escape.”

The provost of the college however blamed the porous nature of the institution for the development and appealed to the Federal Government to complete the school’s fencing project.

She said, “It is true that some students were raped by the some of their colleagues who were on campus on part-time basis.”