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Appointment of Provost: Police Gun Down 6 Protesting Students

Daily Champion (Lagos)
NEWS
March 16, 2004
Posted to the web March 16, 2004

By SUNDAY KUDAISI
Ado Ekiti

SIX students of the College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti, in Ekiti State, were at the weekend, shot dead by anti-riot policemen, during a violent protest over the choice of a new provost.

Daily Champion gathered that the students took to the streets to protest the appointment of a new provost after the former was removed by Governor Ayo Fayose, for undisclosed reasons.

The peaceful demonstration, however, turned violent when a team of anti-riot policemen deployed to the college, tried to disperse them by using teargas and shooting into the air.

An eye witness told Daily Champion that the students replied the teargas shots by throwing stones at the anti-riot policemen.

Irked by the action, the anti-riot policemen allegedly directed their guns at the crowd, killing six students.

Four other students sustained bullet wounds even as several others sustained different degrees of injuries.

Meanwhile, corpses of the dead students have been deposited at the government General Hospital mortuary Ikere-Ekiti.

Following the incident, 28 students were arrested and taken to the police headquarters at Ado Ekiti.

Commissioner of police in Ekiti State, Mr. Anaya Gaya, who confirmed the development said investigations were still ongoing.

 
 

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