Osun varsity students protest police shooting

Students of the Osun State University, Osogbo, on Saturday protested the shooting of two of their colleagues by some policemen.

The protesting students lit bon fires on major streets  and impeded human and vehicular  traffic within Osogbo metropolis.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports  that the shot  students, Kazeem Adesola and Ibrahim Ajao, were  playing football on a pitch at  Oke-Baale area of the metropolis when the incident occurred.

NAN learnt that  the policemen,  who came in plain clothes, had  accused some students on the pitch of being  involved  in internet fraud.

An  eyewitness, who craved anonymity, accused  the police of  persistently extorting money from students.

The eye witness, a student of the institution,  said the resistance by those on the pitch  led to Saturday’s shooting incident.

“We were playing football when the policemen  came. They always come like that to arrest students.

“ They would say that we are involved in Yahoo-Yahoo(internet fraud)  and they would seize our laptops and phones.

“They would collect money on the pretext of  granting us bail. But we resisted them on this occasion  and within a twinkle of an eye, the policemen started shooting.

“When the policemen started shooting, we ran away but the bullets  hit two students who were immediately rushed to hospital.

“ The bullet hit one in the stomach and the second one in his mouth,’’ he said.

The Commissioner of  Police in the state, Mr Fimihan Adeoye, while visiting the victims at the Ladoke Akintola Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, confirmed the development.

He said  that the policemen involved had been arrested and detained, assuring  the victims that  they would face the full wrath of the law.

The commissioner also said he had  ordered  full scale investigation into the matter.

He, however, advised  the students of the institution not to take the law  into their hands, saying  the essence of the  investigation was to establish  that such an act was committed and to determine those involved.

“The two students injured in the incident are being attended to now at the Ladoke Akintola University Teaching Hospital, Osogbo,  and that’s why I am here to ensure that the victims are well treated,’’ he said.

The Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Labode Popoola, who was also at the hospital, said the students were exposed to danger because the  institution  is non-residential.

He said  efforts were being made to build hostels and ensure that students live within the campus where they could be properly monitored and supervised