The Federal University Dutse has decried the constant trespassing, theft and vandalism of the university’s infrastructure by individuals from its host community.
Abdulkadim Sabo, vice-chancellor of the university, made the allegation at a pre-convocation conference held at the school’s senate chamber on Tuesday.
He said that, despite the university’s corporate social responsibility to extend its services to the host and neighbouring communities, these acts pose a threat to the campus.
“In our profound act of corporate responsibility, we extended health services to 17 neighbouring host communities, thus shifting from campus-centred care to community-centred impact.
“We provide free obstetric ultrasound scanning to pregnant women, conduct house-to-house vaccination campaigns and provide mobile outreach to orphanages and correctional centres,” he said.
The vice-chancellor added that two emergency hotlines have been introduced to ensure swift ambulance response and round-the-clock doctor consultation.
He said some walls were breached by either the community or students living off campus to provide easy access without realising the security implications.
Mr Sabo also lamented how animals gained access to the campus to destroy plants around the institution.
He reiterated the university’s commitment towards providing more security to the campus while appealing to the host community to desist from trespassing.
Meanwhile, Mr Sabo highlighted other challenges faced by the university, including difficulty in meeting its utility bill obligations due to meagre overhead grants and the electricity tariff increase.
He also decried the university’s lack of a proper firefighting engine and equipment, which is a basic need of the university.
The vice chancellor revealed that the university was graduating 4,277 students for the eighth and ninth combined convocation on Friday.
(NAN)
