Management of University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka, has debunked reports of an attempted kidnap by suspected ritualists within the university community.
Some internet users had uploaded a video online, claiming that some ritualists were apprehended at UNILAG 2nd Gate while the suspects allegedly tried to kidnap a female student on Tuesday.
Some boys wanted to kidnap a girl at Unilag second gate. They hit her on her head with a sharp object and tried to force her into their car but as she kept on resisting the University Security men got attracted to the scene and arrested the guys who you see being tied up. pic.twitter.com/WmIPYTuLuO
— Benjamin Amaechi 2 (@2_amaechi) February 2, 2022
According to the reports, the men were trying to woo the lady as she was walking along a path, and when she turned them down, they forced her into their car and hit her head with a stone.
However, the school management, in a statement, said the claim by the social media users was not true.
The institution described the reports as false and unfounded in a statement signed by the spokesperson Nonye Oguama.
Oguama explained what happened, saying the incident was a case of social misconduct and physical assault by two male students against a female student of the school.
She said in the process, people around were attracted to the scene and that the male students were trying to run away while people shouted to attract the attention of the school security personnel, who eventually apprehended them.
Oguama expressed the incident took place around the Onike Gate axis of the university and that the two male students were the ones apprehended by the security officers in the viral video, while the lady concerned was the one sitting on a stool.
She confirmed that the case was already being handled by the security unit and the Students Affairs Division of the school.
Oguama said the campus is safe for students, workers, and visitors .
Also, the spokesman for the Lagos State Police Command, Adekunle Ajisebutu, confirmed that the case was that of assault and not kidnapping.
He said;
There was no kidnap. It was a case of misunderstanding between a female student and three others (one of whom is a UNILAG student) which led to an assault on the lady and some of the security guards.
With the alarming rate of money rituals, kidnapping has become a sordid menace and a lucrative ‘enterprise’ in Nigeria as the West African nation’s security situation worsens.
Hundreds of students have been abducted in different parts of the country in the last few months.
Many Nigerians are disappointed in the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, who rode to power on the heels of combating the security challenges plaguing the country in 2015 but the situation seems to have been aggravated in the last six years.
