Bauchi, Nigeria — The Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi, has been closed indefinitely after a violent protest broke out on campus on Tuesday morning.
The protest started around 10 a.m. when students demonstrated over a midnight robbery at the male hostel. According to reports, robbers broke into the hostel, stole valuables, and injured two students.
In a statement signed by the school’s Registrar, Alhaji Kasimu Salihu, the management confirmed that “unscrupulous elements” had invaded the hostel, taking away belongings and harming students.
The statement explained that the protest, which began peacefully, was later hijacked by hoodlums who did not have the students’ interests at heart. As a result, the school ordered an immediate shutdown of academic activities and gave students just two hours to vacate the campus.
Students Speak
Out Some students, speaking anonymously to reporters, said the robbery took place in the middle of the night and accused the management of failing to provide proper security.
One student, Ismail Abubakar, said:
“Students are not safe off campus or on campus. They collected more than 50 phones during the robbery and wounded some students with dangerous weapons.”
The Student Union Government (SUG) President, Haruna Umar, also condemned the attack, describing it as something that had “never happened in the history of the Polytechnic.”
Police Response
Bauchi State Police Command confirmed the arrest of three suspected robbers believed to be behind the hostel attack.
Police spokesman, CSP Ahmed Wakili, said the suspects broke into the school by scaling the fence, stole students’ phones and laptops, and injured those who tried to resist them.
He explained that after receiving a security alert from the school’s Chief Security Officer, detectives rushed to the scene, took the injured students to the school clinic for treatment, and later sent reinforcement to control the protest.
According to Wakili, police used minimal force to disperse the crowd after facing resistance. In total, 48 people — 36 males and 12 females — were detained for their alleged roles in the protest, while the three robbery suspects confessed to the crime during interrogation.
The situation has now been brought under control, but the campus will remain closed until further notice.
