A 400-level student of English Department, Faculty of Arts, Ahmadu Bello University(ABU), Zaria, Gladys Onwosureye, was on Wednesday night bathed with concentrated acid by her boyfriend, James popularly known as Jimmy, a graduate of Sociology from the same institution.
LEADERSHIP gathered that Onwosureye became a victim of the unfortunate incident on her way to her hostel after closing from the Catholic Students Fellowship within the school premises. She was said to have stopped in front of one of the male hostels known as Suleiman Hall, to answer a call when her boyfriend came from behind and reportedly poured the burning liquid on her.
It was gathered that some students at the scene of the incident rushed to get water which was poured on her face to stop the effect after Gladys was said to have been screaming from the effect of the acid.
Investigations revealed that the relationship between them started on campus when her assailant was still a student of the Faculty of Social Science. They were both in love until the parents of Gladys instructed their daughter to quit the relationship on the grounds that they were not in support of it.
Trouble started when the young man, who had finished his National Youth Service Corps(NYSC), and had even gotten an appointment in the nation’s capital, Abuja, had gone back to the school for his Masters degree. It was reported that he had inquired from Gladys about the state of the relationship which was said to have lost its spark shortly after he graduated from the institution.
Gladys was said to have told her boyfriend the state of the relationship and the stand of her parents about her choice of him as life partner. The information was said?not to have gone well with him, hence the attack.
Female students of the institution were said to have gone on a peaceful demonstration demanding that justice must be done as this was not the first time such was happening in the history of the school since its establishment. The female students said ‘enough is enough’ as women seemed to be at the receiving end in every disagreement. They called on all authorities concerned to bring the culprit to book as love is a matter of choice and not a case of force.
The Chief Medical Director of Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Shika, Dr. Lawal Khalid, spoke with leadership weekend and confirmed the incident because she was taken there for treatment. He said she has been taken to the intensive ward. Effort to speak to the management of the school as well as the chief security officer proved abortive even when students who craved for anonymity as well as the CMD of ABUTH, Shika, had confirmed the incident.
The whereabout of the assailant who happens to be a twin is yet to be known as at the time when this report was compiled. However, the victim’s mother has reported to the hospital and was said to have fainted when she saw her daughter. It took several efforts to resuscitate her.
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