By Onomiguren Agbamu
The Rector of Delta State Polytechnic, Ogwashi-Uku, Bldr. Prof. Emmanuel Achuenu has clarified some purported online media reports making the rounds that the state-owned polytechnic has been shutdown and was under siege on account of insecurity describing such insinuations as outrightly false, and a figment of the imagination of the proponents whom he described as alarmists.
Addressing newsmen during a press conference on Tuesday, February 20, 2024, at the polytechnic main site, Prof. Achuenu said, the trending news stories about the robbery attack happened in Ogwashi-Uku town and not on the school campus.
The Rector frowned at online reportage which published entirely fake news about attacks on the polytechnic without corroborating the information at their disposal.
While narrating the fact, The Rector said there has been a wave of insecurity over the country and Ogwashi uku, the host community of the Polytechnic is not exempted from the marauding wave.
Professor Achuenu explained that there has been series of disturbance of robbery issues people are talking about in some communities and it was not peculiar to Ogwashi-Uku just like what happened in other places.
Achuenu added, “this particular robbery attack happened in Ogwashi-Uku town and not in the school as reported, saying some of the residences in the town where our students are staying are involved”.
The Rector noted that those residences in town are what people refer to as “students hostels”; however, it was not only our students who are staying in those places, saying “anybody, staying there ordinary would have been affected”.
“When I got the information, I called the Chief Security Officer (CSO) of the school at that particular time, and DSPG was not even in the news. It was just the issues of the residences in Ogwashi-Uku town that was attacked and some students were involved”
“People have decided not to separate the individuals from an institution. The residences they mentioned in those reports are Chelsea hostel, Mega chip and Africa House and we equally visited to have first-hand information,” he said
The Rector emphasized that the school was never attacked nor shutdown but that people must make trending news, they now linked the entire thing to the school and began to write fake stories that the school was under attack and some students had been killed.
“That fake news is painful. Delta State Polytechnic Ogwashi-Uku is safe, we did not shut down and there is no attack of any kind in the school”
He called on parents and guardians not to panic, that measures are already in place to halt the menace and security men are on top of the situation.
The Students Union Government President (SUG) of DSPG, Comrade Victor Anthony Ugochukwu , who was at the Press conference , debunked any incident of attacks on any student of the institution that allegedly resulted in rape of female students or loss of lives at the off campuses residences of students, admonishing the media to always corroborate their information sources before going to press
The Dean of Students of the institution, Mr. Franklin Agetue also clarified the situation , advising students to go about their academic activities, as the school management , in collaboration with law enforcement agencies, the Ogwashi uku royal palace , as well as the Aniocha South local government , were on top of the security challenges which will be a thing of the past in no distant time
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