Police refute claims bandits raped 30 female Nasarawa students

The Nasarawa State Police Command has refuted claims that over 30 female students of the Federal University, Lafia, were raped during a recent bandit attack.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Command’s Public Relations Officer, Ramhan Nansel, dismissed the viral report as false.

“That report is false. Bandits entered into the school and raped over 30 female students? Our findings show that the report is not true,” Nansel said.

He added that the police had reached out to key personnel at the university, including the Chief Security Officer, the institution’s information officer, and several students, none of whom confirmed the alleged incident.

“We also got across to the Chief Security Officer of the institution, and the information officer of the school. They said there was no reported incident of such. We spoke with some students; they said nothing of such happened. If it truly happened, the students would be vocal about it,” he stated.

Nansel clarified that the only incident formally reported occurred on July 27 in the Student Village area, and it involved robbery, not sexual assault.

“However, on July 27, we received a report of robbery in the student village area. One cellphone, a power bank, and a handbag belonging to a student named Jennifer were stolen. One male student was also injured while trying to escape. There was no report of rape. That was the report we had. Over 30 female students raped? Haba! If there was, there’s no need to hide it; we are not the cause,” he said.

Also reacting to the claim, a user on X, @deehsarasheed, who identified as a student leader at the university, strongly condemned the report, describing it as fake and misleading.

“This report is fake and stands condemned,” the user wrote.

Providing context to the actual incident, the user explained that the attack occurred in the Student Village—off-campus housing—not in the university’s main hostel, and involved cases of robbery.

“Here is the gist exactly as it happened: Student village were attacked by the criminals not hostel. Several rooms were robbed. Only one student was r@pped and that was because she was found naked after they barged into her room (she herself state that she was laying naked).”

“The school hostel has never been attacked due to presence of heavy security at all time, hence the reason it’s even competitive to get.”

“The school has four female hostels as against one for male. I am a student of the school and among the student leaders,” the user added.