Police Disperse Bauchi Varsity Students Protesting Schoolmate’s Killing

There is pandemonium at the Yelwa Campus of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, as students who came out to protest the murder of their schoolmate were teargassed by the police. PUNCH online had earlier reported that a final-year student of the institution, Joseph Agabaidu, was stabbed to death by some assailants who were trying to steal his mobile phone. The 500-level Geology student was said to be returning to his lodge situated around the Yelwan Tudu market in the Yelwa area, a suburb of Bauchi metropolis, at around 7pm on Saturday when he was attacked. Agabaidu was rushed to the hospital for medical treatment but could not survive the severe injuries from the knife. The students embarked on a peaceful protest within the school premises but were stopped by  security men. They insisted on going outside but were denied. The gate was shut and the students were told by the police to go back some distance but they refused. The policemen then fired tear gas, which forced the students to move away from the gate. Those going in and out of the campus were seen coughing profusely as a result of the teargas that had been shot by the police. Many people were seen using handkerchiefs, veils and other items to cover their noses.

Our correspondent, who was at the Yelwa Campus for over four hours, observed that the teargassing of the students further aggravated them as they forcefully closed the gate and blocked all roads within the campus. This left lecturers and students going in and out of the school stranded as the students refused to open the gate and allow vehicular and human movements.

Academic activities were also paralysed at both the Yelwa and the Gubi campuses, as students going into the school for lectures could not go in. Those going to the Gubi campus could not also go out. For over three hours, our correspondent observed that the students refused to open the gate. Despite several efforts by the management, the students refused to open the gate to allow movement. Another complaint of the students was that one of their schoolmates was arrested by the police, handcuffed and taken away. Our correspondent observed that no fewer than seven Hilux vans of policemen from the Yelwa Divisional Headquarters and the Rapid Response Squad were drafted to maintain law and order. When an official of the security department approached the students to pacify them, they started singing solidarity songs.

Source: Punch