FUOYE Shut, SUG Proscribed Over Protest, Attack On Mrs Fayemi
The Management of Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) Ekiti State on Wednesday shut down the institution and proscribed its Student Union Government with immediate effect.
This followed the violent protest staged by the students of the university over epileptic power supply by Benin Electricity Distribution Company during which the convoy of Wife of the State Governor, Erelu Bisi Fayemi was attacked.
In a statement made available to newsmen in Ado Ekiti, the management of the institution condemned the violence that followed the protest by the students.
The statement said, “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 threat to lives has compelled the University management to take the following decisions:
“The University is hereby shut down with immediate effect. Students are therefore ordered to vacate the university premises on or before, Wednesday, Sept 11, 2019.
“The students Union is hereby proscribed. More details will be made known in due course”.
Meanwhile, Ekiti State Government has confirmed the attack on Mrs Fayemi and her convoy during the violent protest by the Students in Oye Ekiti.
A statement by the Information Commissioner, Mr. Muyiwa Olumilua, said the protest might have started as a peaceful one but hinted that there was an escalation to violence, possibly due to infiltration by hoodlums.
“The convoy of the Wife of the Governor was attacked with several vehicles vandalised, leaving many people, including journalists, with varying degrees of injuries.
“While not denying the students the right to express their grievances on any issue, it is expected that such be done without resulting to violence.
“As a responsible government, it is on record that the State Government has been engaging the electricity company (BEDC) on how to improve the power situation in parts of the State, long before this unfortunate incident, and promise to continue to engage them on the improvement of their service delivery to Ekiti State.
“The general public is hereby advised to go about their normal activities as the situation is now under control”, he said.
However, some journalists; Folorunso Adebiyi of Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Olasunkami Ogunmuko of CORE TV, Raphael Ogbonnaiye of Daily Trust, Ayodele Afolabi of The Guardian , Adedayo Oladele of New Nigerian and other journalists on the first lady’s entourage narrowly escaped being killed during the attacks while some sustained varying degrees of injuries.
The Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Ekiti State Council Rotimi Ojomoyela , condemned the calculated attacks on his members, urging security agencies to fish out the perpetrators.
Narrating how the incident happened, a journalist working with Core Television station in Lagos, Sunkanmi Ogunmuko, said Mrs Fayemi was already conducting the empowerment programme at the civic centre in Oye Ekiti when the incident occurred.
Ogunmuko said,’’ they came in their hundreds from both Oye and Ikole campuses and started destroying vehicles with sticks and other dangerous weapons. They destroyed over ten cars in the convoy and wounded journalists and other participants.
“It was the security details around the first lady that alerted the entourage about the happening. They were the ones who summoned courage to remove all the bonfires and mounted road blockades before the first lady was whisked out of the beleaguered scene.
“Most of the journalists were wounded with sticks , bottles and sticks thrown by the protesting students”.
