ABU asked to halt hostels racketeering

Students of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, have called on the authorities of the institution to halt the illegal sell of bed spaces by hostel officials. A student, who did not want his name in print, alleged that hostels were sold at the black market at high prices, reaching N80, 000 per annum for males […]

Students of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, have called on the authorities of the institution to halt the illegal sell of bed spaces by hostel officials.
A student, who did not want his name in print, alleged that hostels were sold at the black market at high prices, reaching N80, 000 per annum for males and N120, 000 in female hostel, mainly due to intense competition for accommodation.
He advised the university’s management to build more hostels and stop the students’ affairs officers in charge of accommodation from engaging themselves in illegal acts.
Another student, who spoke anonymously, said a space in a room of four students was legally sold for N7, 090 which could be accessed through the university’s internet portal but there were few spaces available, alleging that the remaining spaces were sold to students, illegally, at exorbitant prices.
He said: “The vice chancellor must address this matter urgently before the start of new session. Many students are either staying with friends in the hostels or living in squatter settlements around the school because they haven’t got accommodation. Some students are sleeping in the mosque because they don’t have accommodation and could not pay huge sums of money to acquire bed spaces from accommodation racketeers.”
But the students’ representatives said that they were working to address the situation.
They said that students found selling their space to others will forfeit their space.  President of the students representatives, Bukar Sulaiman, said: “We caught a female student who sold a bed space for N43, 000 and we return the money to the owner and she is going to miss that particular space because it is against the school’s rule and regulation. In fact, the security personnel are told to arrest such guilty students.”
Ibrahim, 400Level Mass Communication, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria