By Millicent Onaga, Enugu
The Enugu state government has evacuated 135 indigenes of the state who are students of University of Jos, UNIJOS, from the school following the recent crisis that erupted in Jos, Plateau state capital.
A statement by the special adviser to Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi on Students Affairs, Hon. Chidi Ilogebe, stated that amid tight security, 37 evacuated students returned safely to Enugu yesterday, 28 were conveyed to Abuja to join their loved ones while others were taken to their various homes within Plateau and surrounding areas based on their requests.
Gov. Ugwuanyi, in the wake of the Jos crisis, had directed Hon. Ilogebe to take immediate necessary steps to ensure that students of Enugu extraction in UNIJOS were evacuated from the school safety.
Describing Gov. Ugwuanyi as “a welfarist and proactive leader,” Hon. Ilogede stated that he led a delegation to receive the students from UNIJOS who returned to Enugu at about 10p.m yesterday.
Reacting, one of the students who returned to Enugu, Anthony Chinedu Onah, a 200 level student of History and International Studies, expressed gratitude to Governor Ugwuanyi for his proactiveness, concern and commitment to the welfare, safety and security of indigenes of the state irrespective of where they reside.
Onah said that Governor Ugwuanyi’s action spurred other governors from the South East to send rescue teams to evacuate their people from UNIJOS.
“We say a big thank you to our governor, Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and his SA on Students Affairs for their support and immediate action which didn’t just help in evacuating us but it spurred some other states to evacuate their students too. The Association of Enugu State Students in UNIJOS is proud of you for the fatherly role you played,” he said.
Also speaking, Olivia Nebeokike, a 300 level student of Marketing, pointed out that she was dumbfounded at the governor’s gesture, stressing that they couldn’t believe that their state government could come looking for them at the time they were in distress.
According to her, “We are amazed and couldn’t believe that the governor could come for us in faraway Plateau State. Even the indigenes couldn’t believe it when we told them that our state government is coming for us.”
On his part, the Public Relations Officer, PRO, of the UNIJOS Students Union Government, SUG, Ebenezer Iloadinma, an indigene of Enugu State, on behalf of the beneficiaries, equally thanked Governor Ugwuanyi for his humanitarian gesture, saying, “We want to say a very big thank you to the Governor of Enugu State, His Excellency, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, for making provision for these vehicles to evacuate us from Jos.”