Visibly angry rector of the Delta state polytechnic, Ogwashi Uku, Prof. Emmanuel Achuenu, on Tuesday, denied media reports alleging robbery and rape of students of the polytechnic campus.
Although Achuenu did not deny the robbery of students of the institution, he said his grouse with reports made by journalists was their failure to disconnect the Ogwashi Uku community from the campus.
Briefing journalists in his office, he agreed that there were issues of robbery in some students’ residences in the community, he said those residences were far removed from the campus.
But rather than report the incidents as off-campus matters away from the polytechnic, journalists, who were, according to him, bent on driving traffic from the issue, tied the robberies to the polytechnic, despite the affected residences being off campus.
He said the developments, which were pouring in from different media outlets, sent panic among students who began running to find solace away from the campus.
He told journalists that the Ogwashi Uku polytechnic which he heads has only two official hostels which are domiciled within the campus, noting that there was no incident of robbery or rape or any unbecoming incident in any of those two hostels.
He faulted media institutions which reported what he described as fake and unverified news without recourse to the polytechnic authority for confirmation or denial of such reports before rushing to press or posting on online platforms.
The rector said arising from the multiple reports which he said were unsubstantiated, himself, some members of management and the president of the students’ union government (SUG) could not sleep as tension rose to crescendo.
Though all areas where students reside whether on campus or off campus are called hostels by students though not registered with the institution, Achuenu insisted that those places students stay off campus are called residences not student hostels.
He said owners of those residences did not register the properties with the institution, hence, the polytechnic management cannot be held responsible for whatever happens outside the campus.
So attributing the robbery incidences that occurred in off campus residences to the polytechnic, according to him, was a bad image to the institution and an assault to the name of Ogwashi Uku polytechnic.
Part of the reaction of the rector in his office on Tuesday is hereby reproduced verbatim
“You are very familiar with the trending news about the alleged robbery attack in the poly. People were saying Delta State Polytechnic Ogwashi Uku was attacked and the students wounded, some killed, some raped.
“When I heard the news, it was my Dean of Students’ Affairs that forwarded a voice record to me. Before I knew what was happening, Obi’s palace told me there is a voice record going viral. The local government chairman also called on the same matter.
“The robbery affected some of the residences in town which our students are staying. The residences are the ones they are calling students’ hostels. It’s not only our students that are staying in those places. Anybody living there ordinarily would also be affected. And when they brought it to our notice, we started making calls to know the real issues.
“Before I knew what was happening, so many calls about Delta state polytechnic Ogwashi Uku being attacked started coming. I started thinking is it my school they are talking about? Now, people have decided not to separate the individuals from the institution.
“The residences they were mentioning in those reports were Mega Chips, African House and Chelsea. As am talking to you, we have only two hostels in the polytechnic, one for female, one for males that are on campus.
“The entire Ogwashi Uku community is like a global hostel. Everywhere in Ogwashi uku is hostel. We don’t know these places in the town. Though our students stay in them, they are not related to us.
“When I saw the reports that the poly was under siege, some of you called me that the school has been closed down on account of insecurity on campus. If the school is to be closed down it’s not the Rector that will close the school.
“I have not even given any directive as such. We were just calling all the stakeholders, Dean of Students Affair, Registrar, Bursar, deputy rector and others. I called the palace. We were trying to make sure the community was safe.
“What happened was in Ogwashi Uku town not the polytechnic. But because people must make trending news, they had to link the whole matter to Delta state poly Ogwashi Uku. They began to write that the school was under attack. Some wrote that some students have been killed. Somebody’s anus is bleeding.
“If you check very well, none of the vicinity around the poly, some kilometers away from the school was affected. Those residences where the robberies occurred are far from the school. They are not within the area close to the school. I now got confused when they say Delta Poly Ogwashi Uku was under siege.
“So, that fake news is painful, it must be reversed. Those people who were interested in writing about the school because they want to trend is not right. Now, I know you may want to ask what about the information from the student union government? How did that information come? See, everybody was thinking of what to do.
“Some people in those residences have ran away. Meanwhile, the commissioner of police was in the field when the incidence happened. Everybody went to the field thinking what to do. SUG now released that letter to the students and I asked him why did he do that? I told him SUG does not release letters. We don’t close school as rector. We close school from management decision.
“We have not even met to articulate what was going on. So, we don’t need to do anything. Agreed that where those incidents happened, some of our students are in those places but not within the school. But for it to be an issue of the polytechnic is not right.
“As I’m talking to you now, there is no memo that closed the school on account of insecurity. If there is anyone, any of you can flag it for me, an official memo that directs that the school should be closed down.
“What I’m trying to tell you is that this polytechnic is safe. This thing didn’t start today, we have been having cases of cultism in town and other places. This poly remains peaceful from 2021 that I resumed till today. It’s one of our credits. Anything happening in town, we make sure our campus is safe.
It is therefore not right for anybody to report that the polytechnic is under siege.
Question from a reporter: Was there any preliminary closure at all…. Still continuing to clarify his question…
Rector cuts in!!
“Have you seen any closure? There is no closure. If there is going to be closure I will give you details. If there is going to be closure the registrar will issue statement. You people’s reports have made students to run away from the hostels. When the SUG president made that mistake, at a point, it was okay for me. If not what he did, so many things would have gone wrong.
“So, if you look at it, it is painful. The students were the ones reading what was going on. If you look at the social media, some of the pictures and videos they were using to embellish the reports, some of them were not even the ones that happened in Ogwashi Uku.
“So, what is the meaning of that? You superimposed pictures and say situation in Ogwashi Uku is terrible. It made Obi and the local government chairman to be sad. It’s even making the police to be sad. The information was overblown. Even me at a point when I was reading those things I was even afraid of opening my gate to come out. That is not good.
“The residences they are calling hostels are business concerns. I’m not against anybody building anything to accommodate students. But what I’m not happy about is if you are to link those hostels to the school, then the school must be aware of their presence.
“Now, this is a situation where you cannot tell people to register their hostels with the school, the next thing will be rector is extorting money from them. Ordinarily, those places are not actually hostels, they are residences. They are students’ courts. But that does not mean we should not be concerned with anything that happens to them. Our students are there.
“In the process, somebody must have been wounded. I understand it was the students that made it to escalate. But should you blame them? If there is an attack in your place, and you are in that condition, a lot of things will come out.
“What we are saying is that reporters did not disconnect the community from the school, you mixed the community with the campus, making it look like the incident happened on campus. Any of my students could have been attacked anywhere but that should not be a problem to the school.
“The entire community is a hostel but it is not possible for the rector to manage the entire community. We have the area that we cover. Anything beyond that is a goodwill that we are doing.
“I must say it again, the reports so far are fake news that must be corrected. We must change the narrative. Delta State Polytechnic Ogwashi Uku was never robbed.
“The news was just mutating. Nobody died in my school. There was no robbery in my campus. The police, CP, Area commander are all on top of the matter. Ogwashi Uku is safe.”
