The Rufus Giwa Polytechnic in Owo, Ondo State
(RUGIPO) has been shut, following a clash
between students and the police. Fifteen
students were injured in the clash, which
followed a protest against the knocking down
of a Mass Communication student from a commercial motorcylist aka Okada by a police
officer. RICHARD ADURA-ILESANMI (Mass
Communication, Adekunle Ajasin University,
Akungba-Akoko) reports. WHO is at fault? The police or students? Police say
it is the students; but the students disagree,
insisting that the police are liable for the clash at
the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo (RUGIPO), last
Sunday, in which 15 of them were injured. Two
students were also allegedly killed, but management has since debunked that claim. The clash followed the students’ protest after an
accident between a commercial motorcycle aka
Okada, carrying a Mass Communication student,
and a police van. The driver of the vehicle
allegedly ran over the victims and fled. Led by the Students’ Union Government (SUG)
leaders, the protesters marched on ‘B’ Division of
the Nigeria Police in Otapete, where the hit-and-
run police officer is attached. More than four vehicles, including police vans,
were vandalised in the pandemonium. To prevent a breakdown of law and order,
management shut the campus. CAMPUSLIFE gathered the accident victims are still
unconscious. The student’s name could not be
ascertained at the time of this report, but she is
said to be a part-time Ordinary National Diploma
(OND) 1 Mass Communication student. The SUG President, Ebifemi Omojuwa, accused
the police officer of knocking down the victims
and abandoning them to their fate. Ebifemi said: “We embarked on the protest when
we learnt that a policeman knocked down a
student and a motorcyclist. We were told by
students around the scene that the policeman
immediately drove away after hitting the victims.
We later heard a rumour that the girl had died and this prompted students to gather in the
school to know whether the news was true or
not. “We went to the Federal Medical Centre to
confirm the news, and we discovered that the
girl was in coma from the injuries she sustained
on her head. She was then referred to the
Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital
(OAUTH).” A student, who simply gave his name as
Omolere, said: “When we got to the Federal
Medical Centre in the morning, the doctor that
attended to the girl said she was seriously
injured and in coma. We were also told that the
Okada rider had fracture on his head and legs.” Students alleged that the policeman, who
knocked down their colleague, was “heavily
drunk”, which was why he allegedly left the
victims on the road after the accident. The rumour of the victim’s death, it was
gathered, sparked the protest during which
students barricaded the Benin-Owo-Akure
Expressway with bonfires. This caused a
gridlock as travellers were stranded for several
hours. Other major roads in Owo were also blocked by the protesters. The students moved to the Police Division,
located a few kilometres away from the campus.
As the protesters approached the station,
CAMPUSLIFE gathered that riot policemen fired
teargas to disperse them. There were also
gunshots, it was learnt. Eyewitnesses said six injured students were
rushed to the hospital. Ebifemi condemned the
police action, describing it as provocative. He
said: “It is disheartening seeing the police
shooting sporadically at students, not even
minding senior management officials and members of Students Affairs were among the
protesters. They shot at our Rector, Mr Idowu
Ologunagba, and other school officials, who
were with us. I can confirm that more than 12
students left with injuries, while others were
mercilessly beaten by the police.” The union president accused the police of
burning a room in Cocoa Villa, an off-campus
hostel on Owo-Emure Road, close to the police
station. A management source told CAMPUSLIFE that a
police officer attempted to shoot the rector, who
escaped from the scene. The source said: Our
rector had to run when one of the police officers
pointed his gun at him. We know the police
officer, who attempted to shoot the rector. He graduated from the part-time programme of the
school. We still don’t know what right the police
have to shoot at peaceful protesters?” CAMPUSLIFE gathered that though Governor
Olusegun Mimiko has waded into the matter,
there has been no statement from the
government. National Association of Nigerian Students
(NANS) Vice President Timilehin Ayenuro
condemned the police action and called for an
investigation into the matter. Ayenuro said he
met some injured students, who are responding
to treatment at an undisclosed hospital. Reacting on Orange 94.5 FM in Akure, the Police
Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Femi Joseph,
accused the students of attacking the Police
Division. He said the officer, who hit the okada
rider, did not run away, claiming that the
policeman used the patrol van to help the victims to the hospital. He said: “The driver of the police vehicle did not
deliberately hit the student and the motorcyclist.
It is also a untrue that the driver abandoned the
victims; he immediately took the victims to a
hospital and they are receiving treatment.” Joseph condemned the attack on police station
and the destruction of properties by the
protesters. He did not confirm whether or not
the police fired at the protesters. Debunking the claim that a student was killed in
the fracas, a top official of the school, in a
WhatsApp message to our correspondent, said:
“No RUGIPO student was killed as wrongly
reported. One of the injured students was
referred to OAUTH in Ile-Ife for treatment, while the three students that sustained gunshot
injuries are in stable condition and are receiving
treatment at the Federal Medical Centre in Owo.”
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