Tighten security on campuses - AAU

The Association of African Universities (AAU) has urged universities in Africa to tighten security on their campuses to guard against terrorist attacks.

A statement issued by Professor Etienne Ehouan Ehile, the Secretary General of the AAU and copied to the Ghana News Agency on Monday said, “following the gruesome attack by Al Shabab insurgents on Garissa University College students in Kenya, which left 147 students dead and many wounded and the abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls at the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, North-eastern Nigeria, by Boko Haram insurgents exactly a year ago, security is needed at institutions to deter such attacks.”

“With the numerous acts of atrocities committed by so-called religious fundamentalists against innocent citizens across Africa, the AAU is strongly urging all institutions of learning to increase security measures on their campuses to ensure the safety of lives and properties.”

It said the AAU is deeply concerned and saddened by these deadly raids on students, condemns the act in no uncertain terms and expresses its condolences to the families, friends and all people affected by this wanton acts of barbarism.

“Education is key to development in every society. It is therefore very heartbreaking to see students, who are the future leaders of Africa, lose their lives or become maimed through such unorthodox and barbaric means whilst searching for knowledge. This cannot be allowed to go on uncurbed.

“The AAU is thus calling on the international community, the African Union, other regional bodies in Africa, as well as all religious bodies to join forces in bringing the perpetrators to justice.

“The Association, is again calling on all Universities to increase collaborations with the various security forces in their countries to ensure that campuses are well protected and very safe for academic work,” it stated.

The AAU is an international non-governmental organization set up in November 1967 by universities in Africa to promote cooperation among themselves and between them and the international academic community.

With a current membership of 320 institutions of higher learning drawn from all regions within the continent, the AAU is the representative voice of the African higher education community.

The mission of the AAU is to raise the quality of higher education in Africa and strengthen its contribution to African development by fostering cooperation and collaboration among its member institutions and providing support to their core functions of teaching, learning and research.