Authorities of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), Ekiti State, have announced the indefinite closure of the institution and the proscription of its students’ union.
In a statement made available toTribuneOnline, the management of the university said it took the decision following the unruly behaviour of students who on Tuesday, September 10 staged a violent protest against epileptic power supply from the electricity company, IBEDC, to the communities of Oye and Ikole.
During Tuesday’s protest, students were said to have blocked the Abuja-Ado, and Ijan-Ikole highways from the early hours of the day till about 2 pm when they temporarily dispersed after much persuasion by FUOYE’s internal security and federal security agents.
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The protest later spun out of control, with protesters attacking motorists and smashing vehicles’ windscreens.
Students were said to have attacked the convoy of the wife of the Ekiti State governor, Erelu Bisi Fayemi, who had to be spirited away from the scene. Some vehicles in her convoy were said to have also been vandalised.
According to FUOYE authorities, some students were injured in the fracas.
“Similarly some policemen also sustained injuries and their rifles were also seized. As at this evening (Tuesday), three students were injured with two of them having minor injuries and one having a severe abdominal injury and currently hospitalised at the Ido Federal Medical Centre,” the statement noted.
The university condemned the violence that characterised the protest.
“In view of the foregoing, management at an emergency meeting discussed and reviewed the unruly behaviour of the students; such behaviour which included the destruction of vehicles and burning of a police van as well as the threat to lives,” it said further.
The statement, therefore, announced the shutting down of the university “with immediate effect” and ordered students to “vacate the university’s premises on or before Wednesday, September 11, 2019.”
It also announced that the Students’ Union had been proscribed.
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