By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

At least nine students of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, UNIZIK, Awka have allegedly been gang raped by suspected armed robbers who raided over thirty off-campus hostels around the university in the early hours of Friday.

Seventeen students also sustained varying degrees of injury.

The robbers numbering about twenty in number stormed the Ifite area of Awka where most of the students reside at about 12:30 pm and started shooting sporadically.

Information has it that they robbed from room to room, hostel to hostel for about three hours unchallenged.

According to a student of the institution who spoke on condition of anonymity, the robbers were heavily armed with guns, axes, and matchets going from room to room, raping female students and robbing them of their phones, iPads, and money.

He said, "We were at the hostel when we had gunshots that lasted for about ten minutes and we ran for our lives because they have not gotten to our own hostel and we had to hide at the back of some shops in the area.

"Then we heard the loud noise of female students shouting for help but nobody could summon the courage to stop them because they were well armed.

"Those that attempted to resist were beaten blue and black and many people got injured, but I cannot say the number of people affected.

"One of the female students raped is a virgin and they raped her twice.

"The number of hostels in Ifite -Awka is about 300 and including upstairs and bungalows but from what we got after the incident more than seventeen students were injured and that number of those raped maybe nine or ten or even twelve."

It was, however, gathered that a call was placed to Gov Charles Soludo who ordered security operatives to battle the robbers but before they could arrive, the operation was almost over.

Confirming the incident, the state Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga said, "Our men on getting wind of the information went to Ifite and were able to battle the criminals."

He, however, did not disclose the number of arrests so far made, saying that it was top secret as disclosing that will affect the investigation.

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