Posted by By Moshood Adebayo, Adeola Yusuf, Abeokuta and Gabriel Dike, Lagos on
As controversies continue to trail the alleged killings in the university town of Ago-Iwoye, the university authorities and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) have insisted that gunshots were fired at students by unidentified people in the palace of the Ebumawe of Ago-Iwoye, Oba Rasak Adenugba.
As controversies continue to trail the alleged killings in the university town of Ago-Iwoye, the university authorities and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) have insisted that gunshots were fired at students by unidentified people in the palace of the Ebumawe of Ago-Iwoye, Oba Rasak Adenugba.
Giving a graphic account of how gunshots were fired, the Registrar of the university, Apostle Samuel Ajayi, said Tuesday, that several students were injured, maimed with some female students raped during the mayhem.
Ajayi said information at the school's disposal revealed that the local vigilance groups gathered in the burnt palace and organized a retaliatory attack on the students' populace. He said that the attack continued all through the night.
"A report came on Thursday 16th June, that the students were at the palace to protest to the Ebumawe, Oba Abdul Rasaz Adesina Adenugba about the death of Lawal Ismail (the deceased) and the excesses of local vigilance groups over time," the registrar said.
He said efforts were made by the university, led by its principal officers, to persuade students to move away from the palace to no avail.
"When the efforts to disperse the students failed, gunshots were fired into the crowd which injured two and left the other scampering for safety. In the commotion, several students were injured and tempers flared. It was reported that students later gathered again, invaded the palace and torched it," he said.
The ASUU on its part, vowed never to go back to the classroom until the state government and the Ago-Iwoye community guaranteed the safety of life and property in the city. The lecturers, who blamed the death of one of them, Mr. Sunday Onakoya, on the lethargy of Oba Adenugba, appealed to well-meaning Nigerians to call the Oba to order.
In a release signed by Olugbenga Ogunbola and B.A. Odunlami, Chairman and Secretary respectively, the association further indicted Oba Adenugba of complicity in the mayhem.
"The Oba has in the last one year assumed the position of a Commander-in-Chief, leading his men to war against the OOU community. A few months ago, the Ebumawe summoned one Mr. Sunday Onakoya, a staff of the university to his palace at about 1.00p.m.. The summons were activated by people suspected to be members of the Oodua People's Congress (OPC).
ASUU further said: " Onakoya never returned to his house alive. He was found dead in one of the streets of Ago-Iwoye, a few hours after leaving the palace".
The union said the incident of June 16 and 17 involved the killing of students in cold blood, adding that "the exact number of students killed cannot be ascertained for now. Hospitals in Ijebu-Ode and Sagamu will attest to the number of students currently suffering from gunshot and machete wounds arising from the attack".
The union said that the Oba's "militia went into houses occupied by staff and students of the university, physically assaulting them, and damaging and looting their personal belongings," adding that for the resumption of full academic activity to begin, the state government and Ago-Iwoye community must guarantee the safety of life and property of the student community.
Meanwhile, the National Association of Nigeria Students (NANS) has called for the setting up of a panel of inquiry into the crisis in Ago-Iwoye and the death of a Lagos State Polytechnic student.
In a statement signed by the secretary, NANS Directorate of Action and Mobilization, Olurin Adebayo, called for the immediate removal of the Ago Iwoye's traditional ruler and the outlaw of the vigilance groups in Ogun State.
Other demands of NANS include the re-location of the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) from Ago-Iwoye town, arrest and prosecution of the Oba and payment of compensation to the deceased family.
According to the group, the vigilance groups killed students without prior trial while the traditional ruler does nothing about it.
On the death of an NDI Business Study student of LASPOTECH, NANS blamed it on the illegal checkpoint mounted by the police from Okota Police Station in front of the Isolo campus of the institution.
It called on the Lagos State Commissioner of Police to set up a panel to investigate the death of the student and provide adequate redress.