Large python killed at students hostel in UNIZIK

There was palpable panic at a male hostel at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK) in Awka, the Anambra state capital, last Saturday, April 9. The frenzy was stirred by the sighting of a 13-foot python which was killed in a building close to the hostel. 

According to The Nation, majority of the students had gone out for extra-curricula activities withing the time of the sighting. Sources report that few minutes past 9am, an unidentified man raised the alarm on sighting the python.  Those in their hostels thought it was a joke, until the python crawled out of the building.

Students ran helter-skelter on seeing the serpent. A local hunter, who lives in the building, chased the python with a cutlass, battling it for several minutes before overpowering it. Some who watched the scene from a distance, were stunned by the hunter’s dauntlessness. 

The students took the lifeless animal round the campus in a triumphant mood. A student, who gave his name as Iyke, compared the scenario to a “movie scene”. He said: “I was playing football with other mates as we do every weekend when we heard people shouting, “python”, “python”, “python”. 

We left the field to see what was going on and what we saw shocked us. It was like a scene in a movie. I never saw a snake as big and long as this. The length of the snake frightened other students, who ran away. We discovered that the hunter had already overpowered the python. We joined in killing the snake.” 

Another student, Ebuka Ezeah, said: “When the hunter raised the alarm about the python, some brave students rushed to the scene with stones and sticks. They hurled stones at the snake, killing it on the spot.”

The students turned it all into a carnival, celebrating the python’s death. They sang and danced, carrying the python from one hostel to another and to various departments. There was a drama when the school security officers came to the hostel and attempted to remove the python. But the students resisted, chanting: “bring back our snake”. 

The snake was returned to the hunter. Reliving the incident, the hunter, who simply gave his name as Okey, said he found the python when he heard a strange noise in the building. He said: “Out of curiosity, I moved round the building to know what was happening. I initially thought somebody was held in captivity within the building. 

But, what I saw was beyond my imagination. I saw the snake folded at a corner of a room. I quickly fetched my cutlass and an iron rod and moved to attack it before the students joined in killing it.” The students wondered how the animal got into the campus, worried by the development; they calling on the management to ensure their safety. 

Some of the students, who spoke to Campus Life, called on the school management to ensure that their safety was guaranteed on campus. One of them, Chuks Okafor, said: “This is not the first time we are experiencing something like this on the campus. The killing of two alligators in the hostel is still fresh in our memory. 

The management may have done well in protecting students against criminals; it is not just about crime. We need to be protected from dangerous animals. I expect the school management to do something about this latest python invasion.” Student in the state and around indeed around Nigeria have constantly lamented over the deplorable state of their hostels. 

It would be recalled that students of the University of Lagos decried the bad condition of their restroom. The students (mostly ladies), told iCampusNG blog that the management of the institution is unwilling to maintain even basic sanitary measures to help students observe personal hygiene. Specifically pointing to the restrooms and bathrooms housed within the educational facility and the hostels. 

Meanwhile, Godswill Akpabio, Senate minority leader, has commited himself to constructing a new hostel for the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University in Igbariam, Anambra state. Mr Akpabio annouced the plans while delivering a convocation lecture “The Nigerian Question: Ethics in an Age of Uncertainty” at the Chukwuemeka Odu­megwu Ojukwu University (COOU) formerly Anam­bra state university.