Following the recent killings of travellers by yet-to-be-identified gunmen in Jos, Plateau State, stranded Gombe State students studying at the University of Jos have been evacuated by the government.
The students returned in four buses with security protection provided by the Gombe State Government on Friday.
Speaking in a telephone interview on Saturday with our correspondent, Commissioner for Higher Education, Meshack Audu, who didn’t provide the actual number of students brought back to the state, said the government was still profiling the evacuees.
He revealed that this was sequel to the directive of Governor Muhammadu Yahaya mandating that everything necessary must be done to return students of the state back home.
The Commissioner said, “We were still profiling them when I left, for another function maybe by Monday, I will be able to let you know. We conveyed them in four (4) buses. Specifically, I won’t be able to tell you the number so that I won’t give you wrong number.
“In compliance with the Governor’s directive, the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Ibrahim Abubakar Njodi instructed me to immediately facilitate and monitor the safe return of the students. We had to do that as a responsible government and they have all been evacuated to safety.”
Commenting on why the process of evacuation involved the security agencies, Audu noted that the state didn’t want to take chances since the route to Gombe may not be unpredictable.
“They were so happy yesterday, you needed to see the joy in their faces. We had to send police escort from Gombe State to accompany the four buses, they (students) may leave there safely but we don’t know the situation of things on the road.
“But thank God they arrived safely and have since been united with their families. Our duty was to bring them to Gombe and they go to their various homes,” Audu added.
Author:Chima Azubuike
