The police in Bauchi say Joseph Agabaidu, the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) student over whom a campus protest erupted, was stabbed while defending his girlfriend against assailants.
The death of the 500-level undergraduate of Geology, outside the ATBU campus on Saturday night, caused students of the institution to demand justice in a campus protest.
The Bauchi Police, in a statement on Wednesday, said Agabaidu was stabbed and later died in the hospital.
Ahmed Wakil, the command’s spokesperson, said a preliminary investigation revealed that the final-year student was killed while trying to retrieve his girlfriend’s handbag from some assailants when the incident happened.
He said Agabaidu, a native of Ankpa LGA of Kogi State, was returning to his lodge at the Yelwan Tudu Market in the Yelwa area of Bauchi at about 7:00 pm when he was attacked.
Wakil said that the deceased was with his girlfriend when some unknown assailants snatched her handbag.
He said the deceased student tried to retrieve his girlfriend’s bag, but they stabbed him close to the chest.
“Commissioner of Police Bauchi State Command, CP Auwal Mohammed, received in 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 victim,Joseph Agabaidu
“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.”
Wakil said that the leadership of the students union at the university expressed concern about violent protests at the university.
He said the student leaders presented a letter of request to the commissioner of police soliciting more security presence around their communities.
Wakil said the commissioner assured the students of the deployment of police operatives to the affected areas.
