National University of Science and Technology (NUST) students have petitioned the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) and the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) to improve security in suburbs near the institution.
The students said most of the suburbs near the NUST campus do not have street lights a situation which exposes the students to criminal elements.
“We want functional street-lighting in areas around Selbourne Park, Brentwood, Matsheumhlope and Cecil/Gwanda Road,” said Ryan Katayi the founding president of ONE NUST Movement (ONM).
Katayi told CITE that a lot of students were falling prey to robbers.
“A lot of students have been mugged, some beaten and most have been stripped of their belongings,” he said.
“The fear therefore has been heightened by absence of police patrols and functional street lighting. Muggers and thieves have been taking advantage of this.”
Katayi said most students usually leave the campus late into the night.
“Students usually study at night, leave the campus between 11pm – 5am because they have no choice as they’ll be using Wifi, proper lighting and studying space.
Some live as far as 3 kilometres from campus and walk home even at these odd hours,” he said
He also said that they will approach the ZRP to conduct night patrols in those identified areas.
