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WOLE BALOGUN, Ado-Ekiti
Hoodlums on Tuesday afternoon hijacked the protest by students of Federal University Oye-Ekiti and allegedly attacked the convoy of the First Lady of the state, Erelu Bisi Fayemi who was returning from a tour of some local government areas of the state.
The protest assumed a bloody dimension as our correspondent learnt that three persons: two students, one policeman, have been feared killed.
A police van was also allegedly set ablaze.
A source who claimed to be close to the scene but didn’t want his name in print, said: “Two persons have been killed now that hoodlums hijacked the protest. One is a female student suspected to have been shot dead by security operatives and another is a policeman suspected to have been killed by irate hoodlums parading as students of the school.”
Our correspondent gathered that the hoodlums went on the rampage in the afternoon a few hours after the students, who had protested again against incessant power outage, and called on Federal government to assist them, had dispersed.
The hoodlums were said to have engaged the security operatives in violent clashes and allegedly vandalised vehicles in the convoy of the First lady of the state, Mrs. Bisi Fayemi.
Students of FUOYE had gathered as early as 6:39 am on Tuesday in front of the gates of the twin campuses of the institution in Oye and Ikole respectively.
They had simply called on the Federal government to ensure that the body saddled with providing power to the campuses did their job and phased out incessant power outage on the campuses.
It was gathered that the students dispersed after a few hours and normalcy returned to the campuses and their environs. But some miscreants later allegedly regroup to take advantage of the occasion to unleash violence on innocent people
Reacting to the development, the Police Public Relations Officer, Ekiti State Command, DSP Caleb Ikechukwu, confirmed the attack on the governor’s wife.
Ikechukwu explained that 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; they vandalised the property of Benin Electricity Distribution Company.
“When police went there to dialogue 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 destroying 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.”
