Ololade Adeyanju/
A video of the lynching of a policeman in the convoy of Ekiti State first lady, Mrs. Bisi Fayemi by students of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) has surfaced online.
Another policeman in the convoy was also reportedly injured by the protesting students after Fayemi’s security details allegedly shot dead two students in Oye-Ekiti earlier this evening.
See video:
The governor’s wife herself narrowly escaped being lynched, as she was reportedly whisked away in a commando-like manner by her security details, while others scampered for safety.
The protesting students, however, smashed all the vehicles in her convoy.
NewsmakersNG learnt that the governor’s wife, who was in Oye-Ekiti as part of her tour of local councils in the state, was accosted by angry FUOYE students who were protesting against the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) over lack of electricity.
Her security escorts in trying to disperse the protesting students reportedly fired shots, thereby killing two students and injuring many others.
Police Public Relations Officer, Ekiti Command, Mr Caleb Ikechukwu, who confirmed the attack on the governor’s wife, debunked reports that two persons were killed in the protest.
Ikechukwu said, “Nobody was killed. There was no loss of life.
“The students protested in the morning and blocked the Ifaki-Ikole-Omuo highway and prevented the free flow of vehicles.
“The students did not allow vehicles to move freely and they vandalised the property of BEDC.
“When Police went there to speak with them, they resisted them. And the wife of the governor who went on local government tour ran into the barricade mounted on the road.
“The students were reported to have been violent, attacking cars and smashing the windscreens of vehicles.
“We want to warn that the command won’t tolerate hooliganism under any guise.
“We want to assure the public that the Police are on top of the situation and our people must go about their normal businesses.”
The students’ protest, which started as early as 6.30am, came on the heels of an earlier one four months ago over the same cause, with the placards-carrying students massed at the gates of their campuses to prevent entry.
They also disrupted the smooth flow of traffic on the federal highway leading to Ilupeju, Ikole, Kogi and Abuja axis.
President of the Students’ Union Government, Oluwaseun Awodola, while addressing the students, had lamented poor power supply, which he said had heightened insecurity of lives and property on the two campuses and host communities.
Awodola said, “The generality of Oye Ekiti is suffering from poor power supply.
“Students are being molested in the night, we are attacked at night, and we are regularly robbed at the night because we don’t have light.
“Everywhere in FUOYE is dark. Students keep charging at petrol filling stations. This is risky.
“We don’t want mass death in FUOYE. What we want is stable power supply,” he said.
FUOYE Public Relations Officer, Mr Godfrey Bakji, who said the university was not in control of power supply, described the protest as senseless.
He appealed to the students not to disrupt academic activities.
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