Students of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) have spoken to FIJ about the dangers and fears they faced after Deborah Atanda, a fellow student, was found dead on campus.

The corpse of Atanda, the FUOYE student earlier reported missing, was found on the university campus on Wednesday.

Before her death, Atanda was a 200-level stream A student of the nursing department. She was declared missing on September 4, after her roommates raised the alarm about her unknown whereabouts.

In its initial statement on Wednesday, the school management said investigation was ongoing to find the missing student. However, the school later announced her death that same day.

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FIJ understands that her body was found on Wednesday evening, buried behind her faculty’s building. The reason behind the killing as well as the identity of her killer(s) were unknown at press time.

For many FUOYE students, Atanda’s sudden death serves as a clear indication of the concerning security situation in Oye-Ekiti, the town that houses the university’s main campus.

SHE STAYED BEHIND TO READ BUT MET HER DEATH

A student residing in the same hostel as Atanda, who prefers to remain unnamed, told FIJ that the deceased had stayed back to study at the end of her classes on Monday when she went missing.

FIJ learnt that Atanda lived on campus and, since her hostel was located at the Phase Two area of the campus while her faculty is located at Phase Three, she decided to do some reading before heading to the hostel.

According to the student, Atanda’s department was the only department that had lecture that day and the lecture ended at noon.

The student said some bricklayers were working not too far from where the duo were reading. And because the bricklayers’ noisy activities were disturbing their reading, the second lady decided to go home.

“After they were through with class that day, she went to read at a building not far from her faculty. They were two inside that building reading. She and one alhaja (a muslim lady),” the student narrated on Thursday.

“The bricklayers are working for the school building some hostels inside the school. Hausas were part of them. The alhaja said those people were disturbing them somehow, so she later left her (Atanda) alone there and went back home.

“That was the last report on her whereabouts until yesterday afternoon around 2:00 pm when some students found her belongings which were the button she used to hold her cloth, earrings, and shoe lace, at Phase Three.

“They were beside one small river along the way to Phase Three. And then her books were found inside the supposed building she used regularly for reading.”

In response to FIJ’s inquiries regarding the school’s efforts to locate the girl, the student opined that the management did not swiftly initiate actions until much later by which time it was too late.

“They later found her body buried right at the back of her faculty. The school is closed down and all lectures on hold. People are really planning to protest.

“I feel so sad because there’s no security in the school at all. No stable light and security. There are bushes around which makes the school ground very dangerous for students,” said the student.

STUDENTS FEAR FOR THEIR SAFETY

Chima (not real name), a 300 level student, also confirmed to FIJ that Atanda went to school that day because her department was the only one that had classes in the entire faculty.

FIJ gathered that only Stream A students, one of whom was Atanda, had resumed while the remaining students were still on holiday.

“Her colleagues had already left for home but she stayed back maybe to charge or to read. No one really knows. They were expecting her to no avail. Then her friends started calling her, but it was not going through. So they decided to look for her within the school premises,” Chima disclosed.

“Meanwhile, some bricklayers were working around the area. When they asked them if they had seen her, they felt insulted that they would be accused of knowing about her whereabouts. During the search, they found her bag, footwear, and earrings inside a river.”

FUOYE HAS GATEMEN, NOT SECURITY PERSONNEL

In the course of FIJ’s interview with Chima, the student lamented the security situation. She said, “FUOYE has no security. The only thing they have are people that secure the gate. Gatemen.

“And the men at the gate are only concerned with what we wear to school, monitoring people with double piercings and insulting people with dreads and tinted hair. So, I can’t call them security personnel. They are just there for the gate.”

While expressing her fears about returning to school, Chima hoped the school management would give students more time to stay back at home until they get over the tragedy.

She told FIJ that her initial reaction to the news about Atanda’s unknown whereabouts was to pray for her safe return. She said she was hoping they would find her just like the case of two other students who went missing in the past.

“This is not the first time someone will die in FUOYE, but this tragic death sent fears through my spines. I literally don’t want to resume for now,” she told FIJ.

“The management should level up on security and light issues. It gets worse every day. We are tired of using our lives as reminders to what they already know.”

At the time of publication, FIJ gathered that the police had made multiple arrests in connection to Atanda’s death.

One of the students who spoke with FIJ said, “Police are everywhere and investigation is going on now. They arrested up to 10 suspects already. I heard those bricklayers were among the arrested suspects.”

Abimbola Abatta is a reporter with FIJ writing reports in partnership with Report for the World which matches local newsrooms with talented emerging journalists to report on under-covered issues around the globe.