Many Injured As Students, Police In Ondo
https://37bloggers.blogspot.com/2016/06/many-injured-as-students-police-in-ondo.html
Many Injured As Students, Police In Ondo
Social
activities were paralysed in Owo town, Ondo State on Sunday following a
bloody clash between the students of Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo and
men of the state police command.
According to an eyewitness, many people were injured while several vehicles were destroyed during the clash.+
A student of the institution whose identity could not be confirmed as of press time was also allegedly shot by the police.
It
was gathered that trouble started when a police patrol van hit some
students of the institution and the policemen in the vehicle allegedly
abandoned the student and ran away.
The development was said to have led the students to protest to the ‘B’ Division Police Station at Otapete area of the town.
It
was also alleged that the policemen at the station, instead of
attending to the protesting students, fired tear gas to disperse them.
The action of the police reportedly angered the students, who destroyed
vehicles parked inside the station with one of the students being shot.
The protesting students barricaded the Owo/Akure expressway, causing a gridlock that lasted for several hours.
Many areas in the town were also blocked as the students set up bonfires in many places, preventing residents from going out.
The
state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Femi Joseph, said the
students attacked and injured the Divisional Police Officer. He said the
DPO was in a critical condition at the hospital.
Joseph
said the students also attacked the police officers who were on duty
when they stormed the station, adding that the students vandalised the
parked vehicles inside the station despite the DPO’s call for calm.
He
said, “The police vehicle that hit the students was not deliberate and
it was a total lie that the driver abandoned the students because he
immediately took the victims to a hospital and they are currently
receiving treatment.”
The
Vice President of the National Association of Nigerian Students, Mr.
Timileyin Ayenuro, called for the immediate removal of the DPO of ‘B’
Division Police Station for allegedly fuelling the crisis.
He explained that the students expected an apology from the police.
He
also demanded the immediate release of the arrested students and warned
the police to stop harassing the students of the institution.