UniMaid and the fear of insurgents

It is no longer news that the activities of Boko Haram insurgents have injected untold fear into the students and members of staff of the University of Maiduguri (UniMaid), as well as the host community.    The school authorities, however, managed to maintain relative peace on the campus until recently when the insurgents mobilised to […]

It is no longer news that the activities of Boko Haram insurgents have injected untold fear into the students and members of staff of the University of Maiduguri (UniMaid), as well as the host community. 

  The school authorities, however, managed to maintain relative peace on the campus until recently when the insurgents mobilised to unleash terror on students.

 Since the recent attacks in the university started, students and members of staff have been living in great fear. 

 It would be recalled that on January 2017, a suicide bomber attacked the university’s staff quarters, killing a professor while many others sustained various degrees of injury.  This has also injected fear into parents across the North-East and other parts of the North.  

 But security agents have been working hard to ensure that normalcy returns to the university community. Various governments and non-governmental agencies have also been working tirelessly to ensure that safety of lives and property.

 However, there are speculations that the insurgents are not relenting. In fact, it is widely believed that they have internal informants; therefore, it is difficult to trust anybody. 

It has been observed that the terrorists usually use young boys and girls for suicide attacks in the university. It is also said that the security structure of the school has become very weak; and this gives the attackers the opportunity to penetrate and unleash mayhem on students and members of staff. 

In a statement signed by the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Academic Services of the university recently, it was revealed that the terrorists made efforts to cause havoc through the eastern part of the school, but they were identified by private security operatives at the entrance. It was reported that three people – two females and a male suicide bombers – arrived the gate from the eastern part and detonated explosives, killing one private security personnel and injuring a soldier in the process. The three bombers were reportedly killed. There is indeed need for security agents to do more in safeguarding students. Proactive steps should be taken so that they can be stopped before they attack.l

 Isma’il Yahaya & Falmata Kyari Abubakar are 300-Level students of the Department of Mass Communication, University of Maiduguri, Borno State.