Militant Attack Uniport Alumni Demands FG’s Apology

Rising from a one-day National Executive Council Meeting, the University of Port Harcourt Alumni Association (UPHAA) has called on the Federal Government to tender an unreserved apology over the militants attack on the university campus last month.

The decision of the body was contained in a five-point communiqué signed by UPHAA National president, Mr Samuel Iyoyo and made available to The Tide On Wednesday.

In Addition, it said the government should pay adequate compensation to all the victims accordingly, including the setting up of an administrative panel of inquiry into the incident.

If the panel is set up, it expressed the hope that it would assist in identifying the real perpetrators of the dastardly act and make room for appropriate prosecution, “instead of appearing to protect them under a cover of government sponsored immunity, better known as amnesty,” it added.

The association condemned the rape, robbery and vandalism that was unleashed on the staff, students and other members of the university on that fateful day.

It decried the location of the militants rehabilitation centre near the school campus, while empathizing with victims, especially the parents of the rape victims that lost their lives as a result of the tragic and traumatic incident.

Since after the incident, the body expressed displeasure that the Federal Government has kept silence thereby painting the whole scenario as peaceful.

In order to ensure that the militant camp was relocated from near the campus, the association called both government and private citizens, the media including the judiciary on the need to prevail on government to camp to elsewhere.

The body also expressed appreciation to the Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof Don Baridam for hosting the expanded national executive council meeting of the association, further commending him for administration acumen and sustained development of the school.