UDS To Beef Up Loose Security Situation On Its Campuses

Prof. Haruna Yakubu

The Vice Chancellor of the University for Development Studies (UDS) Professor Haruna Yakubu has announced steps management was taking to increase security presence on the various campuses of the University to ward off criminals who attack students.

Prof. Yakubu indicated that, the University was trying to light up the campuses, and was also into negotiations and talks with the various Regional Police Commands of the Upper West, Upper East and Northern Regions, to assist with night police patrols and other security services on the campuses.

“....one daunting challenge is the safety of our staff and students on the campuses. I recall with heavy heart the loss of a faculty member and two students on the Wa Campus, all through gas explosions” Prof. Yakubu made this announcement at the 15^th Congregation of the UDS held in Tamale.. 

UDS Central Administration On Its Tamale Campus

According to him, last Saturday (December 6, 2014) after graduation, two UDS students were knocked down by a vehicle in Wa and one unfortunately died on the spot. “......it is painful to remember that about five (5) months ago, the Dean of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) also lost his life in a road accident just at the main junction of the Tamale Campus” he recalled.

The announcement of the new security arrangement by the Vice Chancellor however came barely 48 hours after Tamale based local radio station Fiila FM 89.3 MHz carried a controversial news report on the poor security situation at the UDS Medical School in Tamale.

According to some students who spoke on condition of anonymity to the radio station, criminals had been taking advantage of the loose security arrangement to constantly attack them in the night by snatching their bags and other personal effects away as well as raping female students. 

The UDS has four (4) campuses: Wa in the Upper West Region, Navrongo in the Upper East Region and Tamale and Nyankpala in the Northern Region. The Wa Campus is believed to be the most populated among all. 

Meanwhile, checks by Savannahnews revealed that, all the campuses are sited between or close to communities that perhaps existed long before the establishment of the University or sprung up as soon as those campuses were built.