The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Abuja, Professor Abdulrasheed Na’allah has re-affirmed that the institution did not pay N300 million ransom to the abductors of the four lecturers and their two other family members who were rescued by security personnel on Friday, November 5, 2021.
Professor Na’allah also confirmed in an exclusive interview with Voice of Nigeria that many arrests were made by the officers of the Nigeria Police Force following intelligence on the abduction of the university officials.
In his words, “No no no no, we didn’t pay a kobo, not a cent, not a naira no never, we never paid anything, we rescued them, so many people were arrested, we got them, yes the police got them
“The truth is that we are hosting the young people from all over Nigeria and just hearing the news that people could be kidnapped so easily and we cannot even go to bed, the fact that people did not know what was going to happen to the kidnapped colleagues if they would be released without injury would anyone be killed, it was traumatic.”
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Narrating the impact of the ordeal on the university, Prof Na’allah said it was a very difficult moment for the university community, he stressed that it was a traumatic period and that the experience was difficult to explain.
According to him, “The impact was traumatic and difficult to explain, imagine the people you know, the people you worked with being kidnapped
“We were not scared, we cannot be cowards and we are not, the truth is that we are just beginning and we are not afraid of anybody, but we are mindful of every strategy we must take to improve on the security and we are taking them” Na’allah added.
The Vice-Chancellor, therefore, called on government at all levels to yield to the call of the Pro-Chancellors and Vice-Chancellors on the deployment of a special squad to university campuses to work hand in hand with campus security personnel.
READ ALSO: Abductions: Varsity Pro-chancellors seek deployment of special squad
“Government must yield the advice of the of Pro-chancellors, it has to be now, it should not be happening, the special squad of security should have been there especially in University of Abuja, we should be determined to give total and absolute security to our universities”
He confirmed that the Federal government had released funds for the fencing of the entire university, the vice-chancellor added that with the recent development, the Giri university staff quarters will also be fenced.
“Even before now the federal government had released, money for the fencing of the entire university and now that this has happened we will fence the entire Giri staff quarters.”
The Vice-Chancellor emphasised that the university management would invest in advanced technology to secure the university 24 hours.
“We will invest in technology to secure our place, it will be 24hours, the more we were together as a university the more the safety strategy the more that we research into solving the insecurity challenge facing Nigeria.”
Conveying the message of hope to the university community, Prof Na’allah encouraged students and staff of the university to go about their normal businesses and be more ready to take up the task of leading Nigeria into greatness.
“My message to the university community is that life will be more peaceful and secured and people have to go about their normal businesses, we have so huge task as a university to lead this nation to greatness and to help resolve the insecurity problem facing the nation, to help bring ideas to our nation in terms of development of the nation,” he added.
PIAK
