According to the Bauchi police, the student from Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) who sparked a campus protest was stabbed while defending his girlfriend from attackers.
Students at ATBU staged a campus protest to demand justice following the death of one Joseph Agabaidu, a 500-level undergraduate geology student, on Saturday night outside the school.
Agabaidu was stabbed, according to a statement released by the Bauchi police on Wednesday, and he later passed away at a hospital.
The command’s spokeswoman, Ahmed Wakil, stated that an initial inquiry showed the final-year student was killed when attempting to recover his girlfriend’s handbag from some attackers at the time of the event.
He claimed that at around 7:00 p.m., Agabaidu, a resident of Ankpa LGA in Kogi state, was attacked while he was on his way back to his lodge at the Yelwan Tudu market in the Yelwa neighbourhood of Bauchi.
According to Wakil, the deceased was with his girlfriend when her handbag was taken by unidentified intruders.
He claimed that when the dead student attempted to get his girlfriend’s luggage, they stabbed him in the chest.
“Commissioner of Police Bauchi State Command, CP Auwal Mohammed, received in the audience the leadership of two student bodies (NUBAS and SUG) in his office at the State Command Headquarters,” Wakil said.
“Their visits were prompted by the recent incident which occurred on 2nd December 2023 where some unknown persons, numbers not ascertained, snatched a handbag containing a mobile phone belonging to a lady, one Philomena Ahobee (28), a student of Abubakar Tatari Polytechnic, Bauchi.
“As a result of this, her boyfriend, Agbaidu Joseph, (28) of Anguwan Ngas who is a student of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, tried to help her retrieve the handbag containing the phone.
“The assailant(s) stabbed him on the left side of his chest with a sharp knife.“The victim was rushed to Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Teaching Hospital, Bauchi for treatment but he was certified dead while on admission by a medical doctor.”
According to Wakil, the university’s student union leadership has voiced concerns regarding violent protests on campus.
He said the student leaders wrote the commissioner of police to request increased security in their neighbourhoods.
Wakil said the commissioner gave the students assurances that police officers would be sent to the impacted areas.