Cross River students condemn Imoke for abandoning them in Maiduguri

Some students of the University of Maiduguri of Cross River State origin last weekend invaded their state governor's office in Calabar, the state capital, to protest their alleged abandonment by the governor, Liyel Imoke, after making many distressed calls to him on their plight in Borno State.



The students were stranded in Maiduguri after authorities of the university shut down the institution to prevent its invasion by members of the Boko Haram Islamic sect that had rendered the Borno State capital lawless in the last one month.


They took off from Maiduguri and landed in Jos, Plateau State where the Cross River State government had allegedly asked them to wait for a lift home. Having waited in Jos to no avail, the students put a call across to the senate leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, who is from Cross River State. It was his intervention that ended their plight. Mr Ndoma-Egba made a donation of N480,000 with which the students chartered buses and returned to their state.
The visibly angry students were prevented from entering the governor's office by police officers who instead called the relevant government officials to attend to them. The Special Assistant to the state governor on Student Affairs, Hillary Bisong came to pacify them in the absence of Mr Imoke.

President of the National Association of Cross River State Students (NACRISS), University of Maiduguri branch, Sebastine Opue Buturo, said the students were at the government house to protest the inhuman treatment meted out to them by their state government.

"Our state government neglected us when asked to leave Maiduguri following the Boko Haram onslaught on the state capital. While other state governments sent buses to convey their students, we from Cross River were abandoned like orphans. That we could venture out of Maiduguri is still a miracle as all the streets have been deserted and security tense.
"Look at Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State; he cares about students of his state. He sent many buses to pick up stranded students of Lagos State origin. In our own case nobody cared. All you hear around our own governor is sycophancy and eye service. Let our government learn to be responsive to emergency situations too.

"We were in touch with the Special Assistant on Student Affairs, Hillary Bisong who assured that Governor Imoke was sending vehicles to convey us but we waited without seeing any of those vehicles. Mr Bisong asked us to find our way to Jos in Plateau State where buses will be waiting to carry us. We got to Jos, waited for some days without a word from any government official in Calabar. He became incommunicado," he stated.

The student leader, a 400-level student of Public Administration, said if Mr Ndoma-Egba had not responded to their call, they would not have been able to leave the north east state where life and property have become unsafe. He condemned the indifference of the state government to their plight and called for a change of attitude.
Another student, Sylvester Ogbaji, a year two Veterinary Medicine student said following the crisis in Maiduguri, the cost of intra-city transportation had gone up even as catching a taxi or bus to any part of the city had become difficult, adding "even with N20,000, you cannot hire a bus for a 10 kilometre journey as no driver was ready to risk his life."
Mr Ogbaji added: "We came here to ask Mr Imoke why he neglected us. We want to know if we are not from this state and if he was not aware of what his colleagues in other states were doing for their students. This neglect is sheer wickedness on the part of his government. We have a population of over 120 students of this state at the University of Maiduguri.

"We are disappointed that a government that does not award scholarship or assist us with bursary allowance as is the case in other states will not care about our safety too, even in a war situation like this. We commend Senator Ndoma-Egba for promptly responding to our call. If not for him, we may not have made it back home. May God bless him the more." Numbering over 50, the students abandoned their luggage at the governor's office gate, turning down pleas to remove the bags.
It was nightfall that dispersed them. Before leaving, they promised to write a strongly worded letter to Mr Imoke to show their resentment over the way and manner they were treated in Maiduguri.
Mr Bisong left his office once he was through addressing the students and could not be reached for more comment.

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