DEPUTY Minority Whip of the Kaduna State House of Assembly Yusuf Mugu has lauded the management of College of Education, Gidan Waya, in Kaduna State, for what he described as proactive measures taken by the school during the protest by students.
Mugu said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the protest would have gone out of control but for the school authorities’ decision to involve security agents.
“The management of the institution had, most likely, sensed the likelihood of protest and proactively informed the security apparatus before the sad incident occurred,” he said.
He sympathised with the school management and parents of a student who died during the protest, describing the incident as unfortunate.
Mugu further appealed to students to desist from taking laws into their hands. Rather, he advised that they should explore other options recognised by law.
The lawmaker’s comments came barely 24 hours after a student of the institution was killed, on Monday, during a protest in Kaduna.
The protest was organised by students of the institution over the recent hike of tuition fees by the state government.
The deceased was shot, along with two other students, when security operatives arrived at the scene to disperse the protesters.
Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) for the Kaduna State Police Command Mohammed Jalige confirmed the incident in a statement, saying the victims were taken to the hospital. Jamie said the student died while receiving treatment.
“Today, Monday 28th June 2021 at about 8 am, the Command was informed of protest and road blockade by students of College of Education, Gidan Waya, Kafanchan, over the recent increase in tuition fee by the Kaduna State Government.
“On receipt of the information, the Command immediately dispatched Operatives to restore normalcy,” the statement issued by the police spokesperson said.
Jalige noted that the security personnel had successfully dispersed the protesters who re-converged hours later, blocking the Gidan-Waya-Kafanchan highway.
“The situation resulted into a fracas where three protesters were injured in an attempt to use minimal force to disperse the riotous students,” he added
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.