The Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu has ordered a profiling exercise on all students living in hostels around all campuses in the state following the gory beheading of two students of the Abia State University, Uturu.
The head count and profiling exercise which is expected to be conducted by all proprietors of commercial hostels in the state is aimed at determining the status of students scattered around the state. According to the Governor, the profiling exercise will enable the State Government, the School and Security agencies have proper record of students of the University.
The order, contained in a statement released by the Chief Press Secretary of the Governor, Godwin Adindu, reads; “Governor Ikpeazu said, henceforth all proprietors of commercial hostels must take responsibility for the activities that take place in their facilities and this will require that they take interest in the identity, background and profile of the students living in their hostels.
“He directed that the proprietors must conduct regular identity audit of the occupants of the hostels as to be able to ascertain the credibility of the persons in their custody.
“The governor said that student hostels will no more be operated as a mere business venture available to whomever that can pay the price without having a background check on the students.
“Investigations have also confirmed that most of the cult attacks are hatched and launched from the off-campus hostels around the universities and polytechnics in most areas with higher institutions in the country.”
The statement also noted that the school’s admission office should conduct it’s own profiling exercise during admission registration process in line with tracing individual students to their source and past records.
“These measures we are putting in place have become necessary as a step towards combating the culture of terrorism among students and ensure that their lives are secured.”