Police Foil Students Riot At OOU

The police in Ogun on Monday foiled what could have been a violent protest by the students of Olabisi Onabanjo University,Ago-Iwoye.

The students, who are at loggerheads with the institution's management over regularisation of studentship and refusal to allow unregistered students to write the Harmattan semester examination, were said to have planned a violent protest to disrupt the ongoing second semester examination.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the state government in a statement on May 19, warned students who had not completed the registration formalities or fully paid their school fees to stay away from the university premises during the examination.

Following the announcement, the students staged a protest on May 20 against the government's decision not to allow unregistered students to participate in the examination.

Consequently, the second semester examination, expected to commence that day, was suspended. It eventually started on May 22.

The students allegedly sought the support of other students and that of the leadership of National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) to disrupt the ongoing semester examination.

One of the students, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said NANS leadership had already accepted to join them in the protest.

According to him, an injury to one is an injury to all.

It was learnt that based on the information on the planned protest, security operatives, led by the Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations, Mr Mohammed Abdulkadri, arrived at the institution's main campus around 5:30 a.m., and deployed to strategic locations.

Policemen were also put around the neighbouring community surrounding the campus.

Abdulkadri, who spoke to newsmen on the campus, said the police received information of the planned disruption of the semester examination and the involvement of the leadership of NANS.

He said the police would not fold their arms and allow some unscrupulous elements to infringe on the rights of the law abiding students.

He said students, who could not explain their mission to the campus, were turned back during a stop and search exercise.

Meanwhile, the state government has extended the deadline for the payment of school fees and registration of students by one week.



NAN