The police in Bauchi said a 500-Level Geology student of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), who was stabbed and later died in hospital, had been trying to retrieve his girlfriend’s handbag from some assailants, when the incident happened.

Some miscreants trying to steal a mobile phone had reportedly stabbed Joseph Agabaidu, last week.

He was said to be returning to his lodge in the Yelwa area, a suburb of Bauchi metropolis, at about 7.00 p.m., on Saturday, when he was attacked. He was rushed to a hospital for medical treatment but didn’t survive injuries from the knife attack.

The development triggered protest at the university, even as the management, in a statement by Deputy Registrar (Academic), Fatima Abdullahi, shut down the institution and directed students to immediately vacate the campus.

The police command, in a statement by Public Relations Officer, Ahmed Wakil, yesterday, said the deceased was with his girlfriend, when the assailants, whose identity and number remain unknown, snatched her handbag, which contained a mobile phone.

Wakil added that when the deceased tried to retrieve the bag, they stabbed him on the side of his chest. He later died while on admission at the ATBU Teaching Hospital.

“Commissioner of Police, Auwal Mohammed, received in audience the leadership of two student bodies (National Union of Bauchi State Students and the Student Union Government) in his office at the State Command Headquarters. Their visits were prompted by the recent incident, which occurred on December 2, 2023, where some unknown persons, number not ascertained, snatched a handbag containing a mobile phone belonging to a lady, one Philomena Ahobee (28), a student of Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic, Bauchi,” he said.