UNIVERSITY
OF GHANA
OFFICE OF THE DEAN OF STUDENT AFFAIRS
FROM THE DEAN’S DESK
NOTES FROM THE
DEAN’S DESK.
VOL. 2 FEBRUARY, 2012
The Office of the Dean of Student Affairs provides representation to the
University about ways of enhancing the quality of students life; furthermore, the
office maintain cordial relations among the various student groups and the student
body as a whole, so that students will obtain maximum benefit from their University
experience.
Once again, welcome back to campus for the second
semester. I would urge you to take note
of the following security and safety tips and the necessary precautions to ensure
that you do not fall victim to the activities of miscreants on campus.
SECURITY AND SAFETY TIPS
ROOM SECURITY
1. Make sure your doors
and windows are secured. If the locks or doors are faulty, report immediately
to the porter/ management.
2. Keep your door locked whether you are in the
room or leaving for a short period. After locking the door, try opening it to
see if it is properly locked.
3. Do not hold doorstep
conservations with unknown persons. If you are suspicious, keep the door locked
and call the Security.
4. Keep your mobile phones and laptops out of
sight when not in use.
5. Do not entertain
strangers or visitors in your rooms without knowing who they are.
6. If someone calls or
knocks at your door, always identify the person before opening the door. Do not
assume the person is who he says he is.
IN TOWN
1. Avoid using lonely
streets and lanes. It is better to use busy streets.
2. Always walk in well lit
places during the night.
3. If you must use a
personal stereo, e.g. walkman or iPod, ensure that the volume is low enough for
you to hear other sounds around.
4. Always carry your purse close to your body. It is better to put it in the side pocket
than in the hip pocket. Hide your mobile phones.
5. Make calls in secure places.
6. Avoid using ATM during
the dark. If you must, then choose one that has good lights around. Be alert
whilst using your ATM.
7. Avoid counting or
displaying large amounts of cash.
8. Carry as little cash as
possible. Try as much as possible to use the local currency.
9. Do not carry travel
documents, for example, Passports, Visas, Traveler’s Cheques, etc with you when
you are going out.
10. Jogging: Restrict yourself to well lit areas or jog
during day time. Avoid dark and unfrequented areas. If possible, do so in pairs
or groups.
BELOW ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF INCIDENTS ON CAMPUS RECORDED
BY SECURITY SERVICES THAT STUDENTS SHOULD TAKE NOTE:
1. BREAK- IN AND THEFT CASES
2. FRAUD BY FALSE PRETENCE
3. BAG SNATCHING
4. CAR BREAK – IN
5. ATTEMPTED RAPE
1. BREAK-IN AND THEFT CASES
Students should be very
vigilant in the halls of residence. When you want to visit the washroom lock the
door. There was an instance when a student
left his door open to visit the washroom, he came back to find that his mobile
phone had been stolen.
When studying in the
reading rooms. Students should keep their phones out of sight if they want to
take a short rest. There was case of a lady who dozed off while studying at night
and woke up to find that her mobile phone which was in a book on the table had
been stolen.
Students should be
vigilant and question people loitering around.
There was an instance when a student questioned someone in a TV room. He found out that the person was not a
student. A further check on him,
revealed that he had stolen two mobile phones, two calculators, GH¢30.00 and a
universal charger. He was arrested and
handed over to the security.
Students should also
observe people who pick clothes on dry lines because some of them are thieves.
For instance, a student questioned someone picking clothes on a line and he claimed
he was sent. He was later discovered to be a thief.
Fraudsters also walk on
the corridors and sometimes enter rooms pretending to be Preachers and Pastors
sharing the Word of God. Some also come to
ask for donations to support orphanages; most often they turn out to be
thieves. For example, a suspect who claimed to be raising funds for the Christ
the King Orphanage at Oyibi was seen walking out of a room with a laptop
belonging to a student.
2. FRAUD BY FALSE PRETENCE
Students should also take
note of people who approach them for directions because some of them are
confident tricksters and always end up defrauding them.
A student reported that a
man asked her for direction to Christ Ministry on campus. After showing him the
direction the man engaged her in conversation and told her that all her belongings
were possessed and that her room mates were the cause. During the interaction a second person joined
them and confirmed the suppose revelation.
Based on the advice of the men
she went to her room and brought her ATM card and GH¢30.00.
The men claimed they could
perform miracles and prayed with her. The men asked the lady to go back to her
room to pray and come back. She did as directed and came back to find that the
tricksters had gone with her items.
Another student was on her
way from “TF” Hostels to campus for a church service when she was engaged in a
conversation by the two men. The men asked for direction to “FT” meaning “TF” to
meet a friend for a prayer meeting. As they walked along, they claimed they had
a revelation that the lady’s “pen drive” is possessed by demons and that she
will go blind if she continues to use it.
They asked the lady to go
and bring her laptop and her phone which she did. The men took the lady to the
front of the Balme Library and asked her go to Volta Hall to buy water for the
cleansing rites. She returned from Volta Hall only to discover that the men had
bolted with her items.
A student who was also returning from town to campus
met a man at the Athletics Oval. The man asked for direction to Pentagon. After
he was shown the way, he told the student to be careful and not to walk
bare-footed. He also told her not to
share anything with her roommates because all items in the room were possessed.
The man asked the lady to bring her belongings for cleansing. The lady went to her room in Legon Hall and
brought her laptop, phone, a Bible and GH¢10.00 to be cleansed.
When she brought the items
she was asked to go back to her room and pray.
She returned from her room only to realize that the man was gone.
3. BAG
SNATCHING
The incidence of bag
snatching is one of the crimes on campus.
Students should therefore be cautious when carrying their bags around.
Students are advised to desist from carrying valuables in their bags.
The following incident happened between Evandy
and TF hostel. A student saw two young
men coming from Ghana Hostels when they met at Evandy junction one guy got close to her and snatched her hand bag and
fled into the bush. The bag contained her student ID card, National Health
Insurance Certificate, Alliance Francais Library cards, a Blackberry mobile
phone and cash of GH¢20.00.
4. CAR BREAK – IN
Car users are advised to
observe safety precautions and be security conscious. Students are advised to
desist from parking their cars at isolated areas particularly late in the
evening. Students with vehicles are
advised to avoid leaving valuable items, such as, laptops, phones, digital
cameras in their cars because these items attract thieves. Several cases of car
break-ins have been reported.
The following narration is
one of such incidents. A student parked his VW Golf Car at 7:25am at the Jones
Quartey Building car park and left for lectures. He returned at 11:25am and
detected that thieves had broken into the car and made away with his laptop and
scientific calculator.
5. ATTEMPTED RAPE
Beware of Rapists
Students, especially
females, should avoid using lonely and solitary areas such as the Nania Park
footpath and Old N Block late in the evening. Some unscrupulous men use these
places as their hide out to inflict harm on students. A female student had the
unpleasant experience of being assaulted by a man around the Nania Park. A man
met the student and asked her to assist him rescue a school boy who had been
purportedly abducted by an unknown man. As they walked towards the Rugby Pitch,
the man grabbed her in an attempt to rape her. The lady managed to free herself
from the rapist’s grip and escaped.
I
wish you the best of Luck in the Second Semester.
Afihyiapa!!!
