By DANIEL Whyte

A STUDENT of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti, Oluwaseyi Kehinde, has been shot dead during a disagreement that turned violent on Tuesday. Kehinde was a new intake at the Department of Crop Science and Horticulture.

Another student, Azeez Elijah, a third-year student of Library and Information Science got a severe injury to the head and is currently receiving treatment at the university’s health centre.

Several others were also injured, including Okonofua Joseph and Olamilekan Abdulmuiz, who have been admitted at the Federal Medical Centre, Ido.

Students of the university had on Tuesday converged at the school gate to stage a protest against the lack of power supply in the university’s host communities. The protest got intense as they blocked the federal highway which runs through Oye-Ekiti and connects to Abuja.

An eyewitness who prefered to be anonymous said the violence broke out when a confrontation ensued between the aggrieved students and the security operatives accompanying the wife of the governor of Ekiti State, Erelu Bisi Fayemi, who was on a tour across the 16 local governments in the state.

“The issue started when a security official attached to the governor’s wife slapped the Students’ Union President intentionally which sprouted controversies within the environment,” he said.

The witness further said that the Counter-Terrorism Unit Officer who slapped the president scampered for safety to avoid being lynched after which aggrieved students demonstrated their displeasure about the situation.

Student Union’s stance

Speaking to this reporter, the Students’ Union Government (SUG) President, Oluwaseun Awodola, said the protest led by the student leaders had long been concluded before the wife of the governor arrived, and denied the allegation that the convoy of the wife of the governor was attacked.

He narrated that they had dispersed after the protest had been concluded and he had gone to the house of his friend to sleep. “Not long as I was sleeping, my phone rang; I picked and I was told some students have been arrested at Ikole,” he said.

He noted that it was this that he went out to sort out initially when he was told the Chief Security Officer of the governor wanted to see him.

“All of a sudden, from nowhere, a MOPOL officer, CTU officer from nowhere just came and slapped me while people were watching.”

It was the slap that agitated onlookers who were students and indigenes as they expressed their displeasure which later took a violent turn after an officer shot at one of the students.

He added that “nobody attacked the governor’s wife; I didn’t see her, the only person I saw was the CSO to the governor.”