Authorities of KNUST have assured female students who were assigned to the two all-male halls converted into mixed halls, of maximum security as they prepare to spend their second night there.

The male students were said to have threatened to resist the move by the University to send female students to the Unity and University halls, all of which have since the beginning of this semester been converted into mixed halls.

The alumni and students of the two halls have since July filed a writ at the High Court challenging the decision to convert the all-male halls into mixed ones.

Another application seeking to temporarily restrain the University authorities from proceeding with the decision ahead of the hearing of the substantive case was on Friday dismissed by the court.

The development in the case paved the way for the authorities to register female students who reported to the school Friday morning.

A number of them who successfully completed the registration process spent their first night at the two halls Friday.

More female students are expected to join on Saturday and Monday as registration continues on those two days.

“We went ahead [after the court ruling] and registered the students so I’m sure many of them are in their rooms as we speak,” Public Relations Officer of KNUS, Kwame Yeboah told Ibrahim Abubakar on Friday afternoon.

“I went to all the halls this morning and I saw them relax and I was surprised to see many females in both University hall and then the Unity hall,” he noted.

He said the University was treating the alleged threats of the male students serious, saying “We have some policemen and our security men…you know a lot of vehicles and human beings were on campus this morning so it stands to reason we need to have security men around to protect everybody”.

“We didn’t take the threat likely because if you remember, the group that took us to court were threatening all over; some were threatening mayhem and some of us have even received threat messages and all that,” Mr. Yeboah claimed.He explained it is in this regard that the University felt it was appropriate “to be proactive by having the security men here so that in case of any such situation it can be controlled”.

Mr. Yeboah who is also the deputy Registrar of KNUST said they have done their best “to secure our students to ensure that they are safe” adding “Security is our prime concern”.

“I think any of the parents who were here, I didn’t speak to any of them but I saw them relax in both halls… From what I saw, they seem to have a trust in us that the safety of their children will be guarantee,” Mr. Yeboah observed.

Meanwhile some of the femal students who have since Friday taken residence at the then all-males halls told our correspondent that they were happy to be part of the first batch.

“The registration process went on very smoothly. I have been allocated a room at University Hall (Katanga) and I feel excited to be among the first batch of female students to reside here”, Ernestina Osei told 3news.com

“I don’t feel any form of threat residing at the Unity hall (Continental). The blocks are two and one has been allocated by females and the other is being occupied by only male students. Security is very tight here, so I feel safe”, Patricia Amponsah said.

A parent, Ebenezer Acquah-Hayford said: “My girl was allocated a resident at Katanga hall. Initially, I was hesitant to bring her here but the university authorities have assured us of adequate security for our wards… All I can say is that, I entrust the safety of my girl to the university authorities”.