Outrage and amazement are some of the emotions currently on display in Yola, Adamawa State, after the startling revelation contained in a letter addressed to a radio station in the state capital, Radio Gotel, by a lady who claimed to be an undergraduate of the Federal University of Technology Yola (FUTY).
The lady, in the letter which was sent to the producer of the programme, "Heart to Heart", said she contracted the Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV) from her student boyfriend and has, in revenge, willfully slept with some 124 students and lecturers at the school.
The letter also contained the writer's threat to make public the names of those who have had sex with her "on the notice board." This has led to panic and spirited discussions among the male population in Yola, especially within the school community. The school's authorities, however, claim to be unaware of the letter, but promised to look into it.
The letter reads, in part: "I have a well-documented report of all those guys and lecturers who crossed my path, since I got infected with this deadly disease in the campus. So far, I have had 124 students and lecturers; out of these, only six (6) used condoms".
On a revenge mission
Continuing, she said in the letter, "I owe nobody an apology and am still on a spreading till I spread it no more."
The writer, who did not hide the trauma and disappointment she faced, explained in the letter that her first impulse upon the discovery of her HIV status was to take away her own life.
"I, however, did not confide my status to anyone until today (i.e the disclosure via the letter)," she said. "Since 2006, I promised myself that it's in the university I got it and here I will leave it. I have indeed lived to keep my promise.
"I was in year three when a student on his attachment in our school proposed for a relationship. He had all the qualities a woman would want in a man so I gave in. He told me all a girl would want to hear. In my innocence and naivety, I succumbed to his pressure to have sex with him. Consequently, I lost my virginity to him.
"After his placement, he reported for his final year and we still had contacts. I visited him on a number of occasions, I have even lost count the number of times I visited him. He was my first and only love and, therefore, hanged on every word he told me.
"My boyfriend later graduated and we lost contact until last month when his sister told me about his whereabouts. Before registration in the faculty of science, I went for medical test as is the requirement. I then opted for an HIV/AIDS test, which unfortunately turned out to be positive.
"It then dawned on me that I have traded the rest of my life for a university student who had deliberately and intentionally preyed on my innocence".
Danger of casual sex
A medical worker, who gave her name as Agnes, said the only lesson from the letter is that people should be careful about casual sex.
"Whatever you think, it is a fact that casual sex is very popular and for a lot of people, it's something that either satisfies a desire or serves a purpose," she said. "It is, therefore, an issue that affects many young people today, as they patronise casual sex under the various terms like ‘No strings attached' and ‘the one night stands' culture gaining foothold in our social life."
According to the United Nations AIDs agency, a vast majority of people with HIV and AIDS live in lower and middle-income countries. Around half of all people who become infected with HIV do so before they are25.
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