Bauchi State Student Killed Trying To Retrieve Girlfriend’s Handbag

The Bauchi State Police Command has disclosed that the 500-level Geology student from Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, who was fatally stabbed, was attempting to recover his girlfriend’s handbag from assailants when he was attacked.

The student, Joseph Agabaidu, was reportedly trying to protect his girlfriend from robbers when he was stabbed. The incident occurred as he returned to his lodge near Yelwan Tudu market in Bauchi metropolis around 7 pm on Saturday.

Agabaidu, originally from Ankpa Local Government Area of Kogi State and residing in Benue State, was the eldest of four siblings attending the university.

He succumbed to his injuries while receiving medical treatment at the ATBU Teaching Hospital.

The stabbing sparked a protest among university students, expressing frustration over inadequate security near the campus. In response, the university’s management, through Deputy Registrar Academic Fatima Abdullahi, temporarily closed the campus and ordered students to leave.

The police, through their Public Relations Officer, Ahmed Wakil, stated that the deceased was with his girlfriend when unknown assailants snatched her handbag, leading to the tragic confrontation.

He said, “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.

“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 which her boyfriend, Agbaidu Joseph, (28) of Anguwan Ngas who is a student of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, tried to help her to 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.”

The PPRO said that the leadership of the students union while addressing the CP, kicked against the violent protest by some erring students of the university and applauded the CP for his swift response and for nipping it in the bud with the “violent protesters.”

He said that the student leaders presented a letter of request to the Commissioner of Police soliciting more security presence around their communities and “in his response, the Commissioner of Police began by observing a minute of silence in honor of the deceased.”

Wakil said that while accepting the letter, the CP assured them of the deployment of the Intelligence and operational assets of the Command to the affected areas and also ordered the posting of more personnel and patrol vans for constant visibility patrol in the area.

He said, “The Commissioner of Police reiterated that the basic obligation of the police is to protect the lives and properties of the citizens, excessive use of force to quench violence is not the only last available option to a police officer in matters of conflict and crisis resolution.

“He said that in the process of policing society, certain ‘unavoidable problems’ come to the fore, saying that even at such, there is a need for utmost demonstration of professionalism.”

He quoted the police boss as saying, “Right cannot be fought through violence but by way of reconciliation.”

According to him, the Police commissioner said that it was wrong for the students to have taken laws into their own hands in a matter that only the higher institutions and other relevant stakeholders can adjudicate, “thereby creating a vacuum for unscrupulous persons to hijack the protest and turn it into a violent one leading to a confrontation with the school authority.

“The Commissioner of Police, CP Auwal Muhammed, assured that efforts are being intensified to apprehend the culprit(s) that perpetrated the inhumane dastardly act on the deceased and further assured that justice will be served unfailingly.”