The wife of Ekiti State Governor, Dr Olayemi Oyebanji, has condemned the killing of a female student of the Federal University, Oye Ekiti (FUOYE), Deborah Atanda, demanding justice for the deceased.
Atanda, a 200-level Nursing student of FUOYE was on Wednesday found dead and buried in a shallow grave behind her department’s lecture room after being declared missing for two days.
The governor’s wife in a statement signed by her media aide, Odunayo Ogunmola and made available to Saturday Tribune, sympathized with the family of the deceased and the university community for what she described as a dastardly act.
She described the killing, ” as an act of sheer wickedness, shocking in its brutality, heartrending to the core, and absolutely condemnable.
” Such act of violence has no place in a civilized academic community where future leaders are nurtured.”
The statement added, ” a university should serve as an environment for academic pursuits and the exchange of ideas, and it should never become a site of tragedy where the destinies of the next generation of leaders are cut short.
“As a mother herself, Dr. Oyebanji shared the agonizing pain of losing such a daughter with a promising and bright future. She acknowledged that only the grace of Almighty God can provide solace to heal the broken hearts of the grieving family.
” The Ekiti First Lady pleaded that every possible human effort should be exerted by the security operatives to identify and bring the perpetrators of this heinous crime to justice in honour of Deborah’s memory.”
Meanwhile, the Ekiti State House of Assembly has invited the management of the institution to appear before the Committee on Education to shed light on the circumstances surrounding the murder of the student.
The lawmaker representing Oye Constituency 1, Temitope Longe who spoke during plenary suggested that the Ekiti Commissioner of Police, Director of Department of State Services, FUOYE Vice Chancellor and Chief Security Officer should be invited on what the authorities of the university are doing to unmask the killers of the female student and prevent a reoccurrence.
He advocated the installation of Close Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras on the internal roads at FUOYE and the conduct of an autopsy on the remains of the slain student to shed more light on the circumstances surrounding her gruesome killing.
Before putting resolutions on the issues to vote, the Speaker, Adeoye Aribasoye, said the issues for debate on security matters called for sober reflection urging the executive arm to rise to the occasion on security of lives and property.
The Speaker noted that Section 14 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) provided that government should protect the lives and property of its citizens.
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