{"id":1421,"date":"2026-07-14T17:11:48","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T16:11:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=1421"},"modified":"2026-07-14T17:11:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T16:11:49","slug":"were-not-safe-abraka-students-raise-alarm-over-off-campus-hostel-burglaries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=1421","title":{"rendered":"“We’re Not Safe”: Abraka Students Raise Alarm Over Off Campus Hostel Burglaries"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Ifunaya Diana Nwanze\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A wave of daring daytime burglaries and midnight raids targeting off-campus student hostels and local businesses has thrown the Delta State University, DELSU, community into high anxiety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within the last few months, emboldened thieves have swept through multiple student residential zones, carting away vital electronics, power generators, expensive tailoring equipment, and even essential foodstuffs. The spike in crime has left students and local entrepreneurs demanding immediate action from university authorities and local law enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The criminal operations span major student hubs including Campus 2, Campus 3, and the high-traffic Bembo area. Unlike traditional stealth robberies, these burglars strike when hostels are most vulnerable: during morning lecture hours and in the dead of night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary Goodnews, an SLT Biochemistry student living in the Campus 3 residential axis, spoke out on Tuesday about the persistent targeting of her apartment. She revealed a bizarre pattern of thefts, with burglars routinely breaking in to steal her foodstuffs and household items while she attends classes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“You go to the lecture hall to study, and you come back to an empty kitchen and a ransacked room,” Goodnews said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frustrated by the recurring losses, she raised the alarm and reported the matter to the hostel\u2019s “mayor” the student caretaker appointed to oversee the property. However, Goodnews said no concrete security measures or structural repairs have been implemented since her complaint, leaving her and neighbors exposed to future break-ins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The criminal wave is not exclusive to undergraduates. Local traders who depend on the student population are also counting losses as business premises become prime targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the Campus 2 arena, Mrs. Fakande Florence, a well-known local trader, recounted her ordeal after burglars bypassed local security measures to breach her shop earlier this week. The intruders broke through the storefront and stole her sewing machine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Mrs. Fakande, the theft has completely halted her business operations, as the machine was her primary source of income within the university community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While daytime thieves rely on stealth, nighttime operators use brute force. The most alarming incident occurred at Bethel\u2019s Hostel in the Bembo area near the Campus 3 major gate, where a midnight raid left students traumatized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Emelerita Success, an eyewitness and resident, burglars arrived at approximately 12:00 AM. Rather than sneaking in quietly, they used heavy tools to violently smash the main entrance padlock from outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once inside the compound, the thieves operated swiftly while occupants slept, making away with two high-end smartphones and portable power generators. Success noted that the ease with which the padlock was destroyed has left residents feeling entirely unsafe in their rooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The absence of these safeguards has turned the university\u2019s surrounding neighborhoods into soft targets for local criminal elements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ifunaya Diana Nwanze\u00a0 A wave of daring daytime burglaries and midnight raids targeting off-campus student hostels and local businesses has thrown the Delta State University, DELSU, community into high anxiety. Within the last few months, emboldened thieves have swept through multiple student residential zones, carting away vital electronics, power generators, expensive tailoring equipment, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1423,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"iawp_total_views":16,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,35,14],"tags":[31,158,25,133,374,65],"class_list":["post-1421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abrakametro","category-education","category-trendingnews","tag-abraka","tag-campus","tag-delsu","tag-hostel","tag-hostel-burglaries","tag-students"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1421"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1421\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1424,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1421\/revisions\/1424"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}