Scores of protesting
undergraduate students of the Ondo State-owned tertiary institution, Rufus Giwa
Polytechnic Owo (RUGIPO), were injured during a clash that involved armed
officers of the B Divisional Police Station of the Ondo State Command of the
Nigeria Police Force (NPF).
The students were protesting following an accident that
involved one of their female colleagues who was crushed on Saturday
evening by a commercial motorcyclist
.
Several
students correspondents that the female student, whose identity was yet to be
ascertained as of press time, was from the Mass Communication department and
was undergoing her National Diploma program in the institution.
However,
the injured student is feared dead by many students.
Students
accused the armed policemen of high-handedness and maltreatment of their fellow
colleagues of destroying their personal belongings at their respective
off-campus and private hostels during a search.
“These armed rampaging
policemen came down to the off-campus and private hostels of the school in the
name of a search-team and beat up many of our colleagues while rooms belonging
to the female students were burnt with properties and credentials belonging to
them badly damaged.
“They
destroyed properties worth millions of naira, mostly at a popular private
hostel called Coco Hostel and also threw canisters of teargas at the innocent
students, especially the ones that couldn’t run for their dear lives,” a
student told SaharaReporters.
The
Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of the B Divisional Police Station,
Tajudeen Akande, had to escape by whiskers during the melee that occurred
between his men and the protesting students.
“Only
God knows where the DPO was coming from, and upon sighting the protesting
students who were very close to the Otapete Police Station, the police boss put
up more speed and attempted to crush the students who had already block the
road.
“The
students had to ventilate their boiling anger on the DPO. The beat him to pulp
and damaged his vehicle before he narrowly escaped into the station,” a student
told our correspondent.
Ebiseni
Omojuwa, President of the Students Union Government (SUG) of the institution said, that the armed policemen harassed and
intimidated the protesting students with gunshots.
“Many
of our students were shot during the protest and they have been rushed to the
Federal Medial Centre (FMC) in Owo,” he said.
At
FMC in Owo, several students with gunshot injuries were in critical condition
at the adult emergency ward of the facility, while the health workers were
hostile and barred journalists from taking photographs of the injured.
-- Sahara reporters
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