THE Taraba state police command has confirmed the kidnapped of Umar Buba, a lecturer and Head of the Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, Faculty of Agriculture in Taraba State University by some armed men.
Buba was said to have been kidnapped from the staff quarters of the university in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The Vice-Chancellor Vincent Ado-Tenebe told newsmen that the armed men fired gunshots sporadically to displace the security officials attached to the staff quarters before going away with the lecturer.
He lamented that despite the heavy presence of military and civil security operatives mounting surveillance around the school premises Buba was still kidnapped.
“This is a very sad story, and it has not happened in the past two to three years ago when we had our Director of Information kidnapped after which we put so many strategies on the ground to prevent ugly situations in the future.
“I am so surprised that this happened again, and I know that we have police personnel, that of NSCDC, our security outfit, and vigilante group members hired by the institution to keep the place safe and despite all of these, the former Dean of Students Affair has been kidnapped,” he said.
The vice-chancellor, however, gave an assurance that more efforts would be put in place for more security operatives to be deployed, and stressed the need for more arms and ammunition to fight criminals.
He stated that staff and students living on campus cannot challenge armed men with bare hands, noting that the management would engage concerned authorities to grant licences for staff to have their guns for their protection and that of the students.
Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer in Taraba, David Misal, said the police were on the trail of the kidnappers to rescue the lecturer.
He also called on the residents to provide the police with useful information that would aid the rescue of the abducted lecturer.
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