Management of the University of Cape Coast(UCC) has dismissed allegations of attacks on students by armed robbers on school campus.
Some students of UCC were allegedly robbed of their belongings and attacked with guns and knives by unidentified persons. Some female students were also reportedly raped while two other students are said to have been stabbed to death.
Chaotic videos emerged on social media in which students are seen fleeing campus as a result of the alleged attacks. Students of the school then took to Social media to demand security protection as they claimed their lives are at danger.
The students who made their demands on social with the hashtag #UCCLivesMatter said they have had to battle with issues of robbery, rape and general insecurity over years and are therefore demanding for a permanent solution to the occurrences.
However, speaking to Joy News, the Director of Public Affairs of UCC, Major Kofi Baah Bentum (rtd) said he suspects the incident is a prank that people have fallen for. He stated that investigation by the school security and the Ghana Police Service has found nothing to suggest that there was a robbery attack on campus. He believes one of the students raised false alarm which created fear and panic on campus.
“What I can say for now is that we have done thorough investigation and nothing of the sort happened on UCC campus. What I suspect is that somebody pranked all of us and sadly he has been able to succeed. We have fallen for a prank and people have added all manner of stories saying people are even dead and all that. So somebody just put it on students’ platform that armed robbers had come around so people should take cover. So out of panic, students at the lecture theaters started running helter-skelter, ”he said.
Mr. Bentum added that the investigation has not discovered the alleged causalities of the reported incidents.
“We cannot find any victim of this so-called robbery. These things (pranks) happen. Occasionally, they do it to the ambulance. They do it to the fire service,” he added.
The Director of Public Affairs disclosed that a female student has sustained minor injury as result of the chaos on campus and she is currently receiving treatment at the UCC hospital.
“I think what we should do rather is to thank God that in the course of the stampede or panic, we did not record any heavy casualties because such instances could have resulted in serious casualties but thankfully, apart from one girl who I am told had a strain on her and is receiving treatment at the UCC hospital, nothing untoward happened to any other person to the best of knowledge,” he told Multimedia reporter.
