By: Abdulrasheed Olokoto

It was on Friday at Nnamdi Azikiwe Hall of Residence, University of Ibadan. Gabriel Hunsu, a 300-level student of Law, had just resumed for the second semester of the 2024/2025 academic session. Upon his resumption, he washed his bag and put it on the clothesline at the C- Block axis of his hall to dry. After two days, he returned to the clothesline and found out that his bag had been missing.

“Due to the fact that the bag was a brown pure leather, I had to leave it for about 2 days in order for it to dry properly and have a sunbaked scent. Unfortunately, as I woke up the next day and went to the clothesline, I realised that it had been missing,” Gabriel told IndyPress.

The loss, he said, was painful as the bag was given to him as a gift by his grandmother ahead of resumption. He explained that since the theft, he has not been able to find a replacement.

He said, “ I was pained by the fact that the bag was stolen, and I don’t have any plausible replacement for the purpose which it serves. With the present economic state, purchasing such item would be close to around 20,000 Naira. And I don’t know where I want to get such amount of money for a bag right now. I don’t even know how I’ll tell them that this bag ooo was stolen. It would be like a blow to the ear.”

Gabriel also noted that it was not his first experience with theft. While he lamented the development, he blamed it on the part of what he described as his negligence.

“When it happened the first time, I was emotionally downcast and I couldn’t concentrate in class but when it happened the second time, I had no choice than to calm down and keep checking the line before I went home,” he added.

In Nigeria, theft commonly known as stealing, is legally defined by the Criminal Code Act as the fraudulent taking or conversion of someone else’s property with the intent to permanently deprive the owner of it.

The incidence of theft has become a chronic concern at the University of Ibadan. Several students have experienced theft of their belongings in both the living and academic environment within the University.

In May 2025, Zik Press reported the prevalence of theft in Nnamdi Azikiwe Hall of Residence, where some student residents lost their belongings, including their clothes and mobile gadgets, to unknown perpetrators.

Last semester, during a time when there was a power outage, Akintoye, a 300-level Law student, faced a double dilemma: a dying battery and a compulsory online lecture. Out of the necessity to charge his phone, he made his way from his hall, the Great Independence Hall of Residence, to the Students’ Union Building.

Eventually, he found a shop with generator power, and joined other students charging their mobile devices at a shared socket. Leaving his Itel A16 and charger there, he went to attend a physical lecture. By the time he returned, his phone and charger had been stolen.

“When I reported it to the security unit, I was told to bring the carton of my phone, which was at home, and that I would have to get up to ₦40,000 to track it. Because it was almost the exam period when it happened, it really affected me. I was destabilised, and had to go home to get another one,” he explained.

Another student victim,  Emmanuel Olarewaju, a 400-level Nursing student residing in Sultan Bello Hall, told IndyPress that he experienced theft on two occasions in the last semester. The first theft case occurred in the first week of resumption when he spread out his clothes to dry, but rain prevented him from packing them in early. As he later attempted to do, he found out that one of his trousers, special to him, had been missing.

“ My friend bought it for himself, but because the trouser did not fit him, he gave it to me. I once told one of my roommates before it was stolen that the trouser was fine, and I would just be dripping with it,” he told IndyPress.

He shared the incident on his hall’s WhatsApp group, hoping it would be addressed. Contrary to his expectation, he stated that the hall’s Defence Minister reached out to place the blame on him for not packing his clothes in on time.

“Instead of telling me the way forward, he was just blaming me for the fact that I didn’t pack my clothes on time. I was trying to explain to him that it was because of the rain that fell, but nothing was done to it,” Emmanuel said.

Later in the first semester, Emmanuel and his friends experienced a larger-scale theft during the first semester examination period. They had placed a bag containing seven phones and three power banks in a supposedly secure, hidden location within their faculty, Faculty of Nursing. The bag was later found emptied near Kenneth Dike Library.

“Where we kept the bag, if someone is not a student of that faculty, he would not have definitely located the place. Though, I didn’t say the students of faculty were the ones that stole it, because we later discovered that it was a coordinated attack. They later dropped the bag at Kenneth Dike Library,” he told IndyPress

UI Campus Security Service Speaks

In an interview with IndyPress, a security officer at the University of Ibadan, Mr. Alelumhe Benjamin, confirmed a rise in theft cases on campus, stating that incidents involving stolen phones and laptops make up approximately 90% of the reported cases, while thefts of clothes and money are rarely reported.

“The issue of stealing phones and laptops is prevalent. It means if you own a laptop as a student, apart from being a student, you have to become a security man,” Mr. Benjamin told IndyPress.

He added, “Somebody that steals your property knows you. A criminal from Agbowo cannot just come on campus to do it; he would have had someone on the campus sharing the information with him.”

Mr. Benjamin also recounted a case where a student, after writing an examination, was caught with three laptops and five phones all stolen from the examination hall and quickly sold at Sabo.

“We Report Theft Cases to ‘Abefele’”: ‘Team Auspicious’

In an interview with IndyPress, Adeyemi Oluwaseun, the University of Ibadan Students’ Union House Secretary, acknowledged that theft has been a major challenge for his administration.

“My defence team ensures weekly checks and patrols to strategic locations on campus. Anything we see what is not okay, we challenge it. And if it is something beyond us, we always call Abefele,” he said.

Oluwaseun Adeyemi further claimed that while he did not have the statistics of theft, the last time he visited the University of Ibadan Campus Security Service, the statistics of theft that was shown to him reflected a rapid decline in the crime. Though, he acknowledged that it remains rampant in some halls of residence.

Speaking to IndyPress, Emiola Waliu Bolaji, the Defence Minister of Nnamdi Azikiwe Hall, asserted that everyone has a role to play in ensuring the security architecture of the University.

He said, “Though we could say the management has many things to put in place to assure security on campus, at the same time they cannot follow every single thing in our respective halls; that makes it a tripartite responsibility; the hall management, the students, and the security agents on campus.”

“Everyone should collaborate together towards the same mission, then we would have a good, and very effective security experience on campus. While the security operatives are doing their work, the defence teams of halls of residence are also doing the same thing. The school management is providing necessary facilities, and making necessary policies, it will be better if students strive to be security- conscious,” he added.

It is very pertinent that addressing the prevalent theft at the University of Ibadan is treated with all sense of urgency it demands.Students, both in faculties and halls of residence, have lost many of their belongings to unknown perpetrators. It is on this very note that the management of the University of Ibadan, the Students’ Union leadership led by Odedele Covenant and Shoge Quadri as the  President and Speaker respectively, the University’s Campus Security Service, and Defense teams in the University’s halls of residence must address this pressing concern.