Street by street and house by house, government officials combed high risk areas of Jos to locate and evacuate students after terrorists attacked the Angwan Rukuba community on Palm Sunday, triggering a security crisis that has since forced at least five states to pull their indigenes out of the University of Jos.

The attack, which left 24 persons dead and dozens injured, prompted the university management to postpone the first semester examination and approve the immediate evacuation of all students from hostels and other areas as of Thursday, April 2, 2026. A combined total of 735 students have since been evacuated across Delta, Cross River, Benue, Bauchi and Kogi states.

Benue State recorded the highest evacuation figure with 600 students, followed by Bauchi with 64, Cross River with 37 and Delta with 34. Kogi State Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo also ordered the evacuation of Kogi indigenes from the institution as a proactive safety measure, in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media, Ismail Isah.

The Cross River State evacuation was led personally by the Governor's Special Assistant on Student Affairs, Joseph Kelvin Enyam, who disclosed that he travelled to Plateau State alongside the Senate President of NACRISS Worldwide, arriving in Jos in the early hours of Friday. "We moved into high risk areas, including Angwa Rukuba, where a number of our students resided off campus. Street by street, house by house, we located them, reassured them, and safely evacuated them under security escort," Enyam stated. He added that Governor Bassey Otu gave a firm directive upon being briefed, instructing officials to mobilise, deploy and ensure the safe evacuation of every Cross River student back home until normalcy is restored.

In Delta State, the evacuation was coordinated by the Executive Assistant to Governor Sheriff Oborevwori on Students Affairs, Comrade Ezekiel Okoh. The Vice President of the National Association of Delta State Students (NADESSTU), University of Jos chapter, Comrade Newton Miracle, described the exercise as both challenging and timely, noting that moving students under curfew conditions required significant effort.

The State Director of Protocol, Chief Sunday Onoriode, who received the returning Delta students, described the evacuation as a reflection of responsive governance, assuring them that "when the time comes for you to return to school, you will go back and complete your studies successfully."