The urgent appeal comes amid a spate of violent incidents targeting student populations in these communities.
Stakeholders, community leaders, and student representatives across Ogun State have raised an urgent alarm over a worsening security situation in the Isara, Ipara, and Ode axis, communities that host and surround Gateway ICT Polytechnic, Saapade.
Located just about ten minutes from the Governor’s residence in Iperu, these areas, once regarded as peaceful and welcoming, have now become zones of extreme concern.
The leaders have urged immediate and extraordinary intervention by the Ogun State Government and the Nigeria Police Force to restore safety and protect students.
The urgent appeal comes amid a spate of violent incidents targeting student populations in these communities.
Armed assailants have reportedly invaded homes, ambushed commuters, and terrorised young Nigerians whose only “crime” is the pursuit of education.
According to the stakeholders, in a statement on Thursday, these attacks are not isolated events but form a disturbing pattern of criminality that has left students traumatised, injured, and fearful for their lives.
“Most distressing is a recent attack in which students were brutally assaulted, sustaining gunshot wounds and machete injuries to the head, stomach, legs, and other vital parts of their bodies,” the statement said.
The victims were rushed to Babcock University Teaching Hospital, where emergency care was administered. Yet, despite the severity of the injuries, hospital bills exceeding one million naira were left for the students and their families to bear.
Appeals to the school management for assistance reportedly went unheeded, compounding the anguish and financial burden faced by the victims’ families.
In the statement, the stakeholders emphasised that such a situation is unacceptable.
They stressed that students are not expendable and that their safety is non-negotiable.
“No society that wants progress can look away while its future leaders are hunted in their host communities,” the statement said, highlighting that continued exposure of students to violent crime without decisive state action constitutes both a failure of duty and a breach of public trust.
The stakeholders demanded that the government declare the Isara, Ipara, and Ode axis a security flashpoint, warranting immediate and targeted safety operations.
They called for reinforced police patrols, including night operations, stop-and-search activities, and rapid-response units strategically stationed across student-dense areas.
In addition, they urged a coordinated approach that would involve the Nigeria Police Force working alongside supervised local vigilante groups and community intelligence networks to dismantle the criminal networks responsible for the violence.
They also emphasised the need for practical measures to protect students, including the installation of surveillance infrastructure such as street lighting and CCTV cameras at critical points, as well as the establishment of accessible emergency call lines.
Furthermore, the leaders called on educational institutions to implement student safety desks, emergency protocols, and coordinated responses to security threats, while advocating for humanitarian intervention to support victims of recent attacks, including relief for hospital bills and psychosocial care.
The statement expressed deep grief over the young lives already lost or fatally injured in violent encounters with criminals, stressing that these students were children entrusted to society by hopeful parents who had made immense sacrifices to secure their education.
The attacks, they said, have not only destroyed the aspirations of these students but also plunged families into irreversible grief, leaving communities to mourn futures that will never be realised.
The stakeholders warned that previous appeals had largely gone unanswered, noting that the situation has now reached a breaking point.
They called on Governor Dapo Abiodun and the Inspector General of Police, along with the Commissioner of Police in Ogun State, to act with urgency and implement special security measures immediately. They demanded visible and effective policing to restore public confidence and ensure the safety of students in the affected communities.
They warned that if the demands are not met within a reasonable and clearly defined timeframe, stakeholders and student leaders will be compelled to mobilise peaceful and lawful protests to draw national attention to the crisis.
“This is not a threat, it is a solemn notice of civic action born out of desperation and the need to save lives,” the statement said.
“Ogun State must not become a place where students study in fear and bleed in silence. The time to act is now. The safety of our students, the conscience of our communities, and the credibility of governance are all at stake.”
The statement was signed by Ambassador Olatunji Idowu Alexander, Director of Special Duties, NANS Zone, and Chairman of the Gaposa Students Stakeholders Forum (GSSF); Comrade Amosun Ebunoluwa David, Vice President of Special Duties, NAPS National; Comrade Megbowon Olusola Ezekiel, Secretary General of ASONIS; and Comrade Akinneye Ayomide Oluwaseyi, NYCN Coordinator, RNLG.