Students, drivers clash in Ikere-Ekiti over rape of female student

There was tension in Ikere-Ekiti, headquarters of Ikere Local Government Area of Ekiti State, on Monday, as students of the College of Education and commercial drivers clashed following allegations of rape of a student by a commercial bus driver.

The rape, alleged to have occurred in Sunday evening, infuriated the students who had taken to the streets to protest the act, and had also demanded that the commercial drivers who shuttle the college and town, to produce the culprit.

Sources in the college said the incident soon degenerated when the police who “had been civil and sympathetic to their cause soon became their target when they (police) disallowed them as they wanted to take their protest to the town.”

The angry students had alleged that the 200 level student of the College of Education, Ikere Ekiti, was raped by a commercial driver at Ikere – Igbara Odo Road.

The students also alleged that the victim was returning from where she had gone to receive medical treatment for malaria fever, at about 8pm on Sunday.

Not satisfied with their agitation in the school area, they took their protest to Ikere town, where they blocked the Ado-Akure road and disrupted free flow of traffic.

They vandalised some of the mini commercial buses popularly referred to as “Akoto” in the community, just as they were said to have vandalised part of their hostel in school as they were prevented from taking the protest to the town.

A source in the college claimed that eight students were arrested after some of them injured a policeman with stones, saying “the police had to react with tear gas to disperse them and arrested eight of them.”

The source also said the College had “declared its mid-semester break and has asked the students to vacate the campus by 6pm Monday. The College has also taken over the treatment of the victim.”

When contacted, the police public relations officer of the state police command, Mr Alberto Adeyemi, confirmed the incident and decried the alleged rape.

Adeyemi said normalcy had been restored in the town and added that the police had launched a manhunt for the alleged rapist.

He said: “Yes, the lady was sick and was being conveyed to the College when she was raped. The police don’t tolerate any criminal action in any way and this won’t be an exemption.

“We have launched a manhunt for the man. The police are on his trail and we shall bring him to justice by the grace of God.”