A female student of Osun State University has come forward with a harrowing account of what happened when armed men, alleged to be soldiers, stormed her off campus residence on Monday night, in the latest testimony to emerge from the alleged attack on students of Osun State University (UNIOSUN).
Speaking to Western Spring TV, the student, whose identity is being withheld for her safety, described a night that began in confusion and ended in an assault that has left her deeply shaken. The interview session also had the University Public Relations Officer; Ademola Adesoji as guest.
According to the lady’s account, she had just returned from school late that evening and was in her room cooking when she heard shouting outside. Her hostelmates were running for safety after word spread that soldiers had entered the school area and were beating students. Her roommate was out at the time, so she quickly called to warn her to stay away.
Not long after, one of the men knocked on her door and demanded she open it. He searched the room and asked how many people were inside before eventually leaving. For a moment, it seemed the danger had passed, and residents began coming out again. It was only later that she learned the same men had scaled the fence surrounding her compound after her security guard, who had tried to stop them, locked the gate behind them.
Believing they were gone, she recorded a voice note to her friends describing how frightened she was, being alone with her roommate still away. That was when she noticed figures climbing back over the fence into the compound.
In her own words:
“I was just lying on my bed based on the fact that I was scared, and I noticed them pointing the torch into my room. One of them pointed a torch into my room, and I asked him, ‘Who are you?’ Because I was actually scared. He shone the torch on my face. ‘Why? What are you doing? And why are you doing this?’ Well, he said, ‘Come and open the door or I will break down your door.’
I had to go and open the door, and he asked the same question again, how many of us were inside. I said we were two. He told me to calm down, that whatever he was going to do, I should not shout.
He pinned my neck to my door. He pinned my neck to the door and told me to calm down. I was begging him not to touch me, and one of his colleagues came in as well. He kept saying I should calm down. ‘You go like am, calm down now, just calm down.’
I had to scream for him to leave me alone. When I screamed, he let go of me. He didn’t stay inside, and he didn’t stay outside. I had to use force to push the door so I could lock it.”
Her account adds to growing concerns over the conduct of security personnel deployed in the area, with students and residents calling for an urgent investigation into the alleged attack and the safety of female students living off campus.
