The management of the University of Ilorin (Unilorin) in Kwara State has described herdsmen as threat to the university farms and therefore, has threatened to prosecute anyone apprehended.
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC), Management Services of the university, Prof. Bolaji Sule, made the disclosure in a meeting with some security agencies in the state.
Sule said that the university had met its commitment towards the herders but the issue of insecurity on its land persisted which necessitated the new strategy.
He said that the herdsmen posed serious threats to the university farms, dam site, hostels, academic environment and staff residence.
He added that they used weapons to threaten staff and students as they committed theft of farm products and building materials.
The DVC also said that illegal farmers were not exempted from the prosecution if apprehended on the school property.
Sule pointed out that the institution had plans to use its land but could not do so due to security challenges and stressed the need for security personnel to be proactive.
In his remarks, Dr Kameeludeen Azeez from the Faculty of Agriculture, expressed worry over the illegal activities of herdsmen in the university in spite of efforts to appease them.
“It is rather so pathetic that the university has spent so much money on relocating the herders, given them all they requested and we are still encountering this,” he said.
He said that the security agencies had been mandated to arrest trespassers in the university land to curb the threat, which some unruly herdsmen posed to the institution.
Mr. Yunus Alade-Saliu, a representative of the Directorate of State Services (DSS) in the state, assured the university of maximum security of staff and students in the area.
Alade-Saliu said that illegal farming and other illegal activities in the campus would no longer be treated with kid gloves.
Present at the meeting were the acting Chief Security Officer of the university, Mr Juel Ikubanni, the representatives of DSS, Alade-Saliu, the Nigeria Security Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Lawrence Sunday and Inspector Adams Mudashiru of the Nigeria Police. (NAN)
