Several students of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, have become ‘homeless’ after the roofs of their hostels were blown off during a rainstorm.
The students also lost most of their belongings during the downpour, which commenced late on Sunday night and continued into the early hours of Monday.
Some trees in the campus were also uprooted, or had their branches broken, by the rainstorm.
No life was lost in the incident.
The students affected are mostly those in Okpara and Eni Njoku hostels, which are female and male hostels, respectively.
Our correspondent learnt that most of the students were asleep when the heavy rain, which was accompanied by a strong wind, commenced.
They woke up to discover that they no longer had a roof over their heads, as it rained directly on them and also on their belongings.
Parts of the roof and the woodwork caved in, falling on beds and destroying students’ personal effects.
One of the students, who identified herself simply as Jacinta, told our correspondent on Tuesday that the students in the affected hostels are currently homeless.
“As I am talking to you, we are homeless. Our foams were soaked by the rain, we lost private properties which were damaged by the rain.
“Even electrical appliances got spoiled because, surprisingly, the light was on at the time the rain poured into the rooms although electricity had to be disconnected because some people experienced electric shocks.
“After we managed to put our rain-soaked belongings together, we had to look for places to pass the remainder of the night,” Jacinta said.
It was learnt that, as a temporary measure to alleviate the plight of the affected students, the school authorities have assigned them to other hostels, pending when the roofs would be replaced.
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