ORAL Buchanan, a sports broadcaster and student at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona campus, was held up Monday morning on Irvine Hall by an armed man who found his way onto the residential block.

This incident follows the rape of a female student on AZ Preston Hall less than two weeks ago, sparking even more concerns among students about campus safety.

The Observer was told that Buchanan had escorted a female student to her room at the top of the first year or 'fresher' blocks at about 5:00 am, after a night of studying.

When he started down the stairs, he saw a man dressed in black with a light blue shirt and hat whom he first mistook for a security guard.

The man demanded Buchanan's cellular phone and searched his pockets, but the UWI student had no items of value.

The man asked if the female student had a cellular phone, but Buchanan told him 'no' and the man apparently let him go.

Buchanan proceeded to his block, Block B or "Siberia", but realised the man was following him. He also noticed what appeared to be the muzzle of a gun protruding from the man's pants.

When he described it later to a member of the Mona Police Station, the cop said it was most likely a shotgun.

Buchanan ran to his block and into a room that a block mate had left open. The man stood at the end of the block but eventually left. Buchanan's block mate then called the police.

The man, however, returned to the first year blocks, this time to the male section, Block E or "Mafia". He reportedly stuck what appeared to be a firearm between the windows of a room in which a student was studying with his lights on.
The student, Ricardo Hanson, raised an alarm when he saw the gun and the other male students in the block came out of their rooms. The man fled.

"The security has been inefficient and ineffective on the hall," said Dalton Myers, student hall chairman for Irvine Hall.
Myers and other members of the hall committee met with residents on Tuesday night to discuss the incident and proposals for strengthening security on the hall.

The committee is preparing several proposals to be submitted to deputy principal Joseph Pereira, and other campus officials.

The electronic front gate on Irvine Hall has not functioned for months.

"From I've been here on Irvine, I've only seen the gate working once," said a resident. "That's not safe."
Buchanan said he felt traumatised after the incident.

"It was the worst possible feeling; your life dangling before you," he said. "The campus has become like a pasture that any stray animal, be it a dog, goat or human, can just saunter onto."

The Mona Police said Wednesday that they could not confirm that the man had a firearm. They are continuing investigations.

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