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| Protesting students of the Lagos State University |
“The police shot live bullets at us. The police manhandled us and arrested some of our colleagues.”
The hundreds of students who stormed the office of Babatunde Fashola, the Lagos State governor, in protest of the hike in their school fees say they “are not leaving anytime soon.”
The students’ protests over several days climaxed on Tuesday when armed police officers allegedly fired ‘lived bullets’ at them and arrested eight of the students.
The arrested students were arraigned before an Ikeja Magistrate Court on Wednesday and charged with a breach of public peace.
Nurudeen Yusuf, President of LASU’s Student Union Government, said that they chose protests because that is the only language the government understands.
“We are not ready to leave here anytime soon until we hear something from the government. We have gone to Lagos Island. We have gone Ojota. We were at Oshodi on Tuesday,” said Mr. Yusuf, a 400 level Law Student.
“The police shot live bullets at us. The police manhandled us and arrested some of our colleagues. That is why we decided to come here today and tell the governor what is on our minds,” Mr. Yusuf added.
The students, who arrived in chartered buses with cooking utensils, set up camp outside the governor’s office and began to cook a meal of beans.
Mr. Yusuf said that they would remain there until their problems are resolved.
“We are not deterred. We will not stop until we hear something from the government. If the governor refuses to come out, we will remain here until he comes out. If the governor can respond to issues that are less important than this, he should come out and respond the students of the institution. The governor must come out and speak to us. We are ready to engage him,” Mr. Yusuf said.
“Our school is shut down. Everything has turned upside down. Students are dropping from the university on daily basis,” he continued.
“We decided not to engage the party leaders because the people in government do not understand any language. The only language they understand is protest. They have been promising that they will get back to us soon and very soon. Anything can be soon. So, we do not want to engage the leaders of the APC. .
“We have resolved to fight this struggle by ourselves. We are a pressure group. We are a pressure group in the country. We can do this alone. We do not want any person to fight for us,” he added.
The students are protesting the increase in fees from an average of N25,000 to about N250,000.
Meanwhile the Human Rights Agenda Network (HRAN), an NGO, on Thursday called on the Lagos State Government to reverse the “arbitrary increase” in the school fees at the Lagos State University.
Mrs Ijeoma Okwor, the HRAN’s Coordinator in a statement in Abuja, condemned police attack on students of the university who protested the over 100 per cent hike in the institution’s fees.
She said that the police had violated the right of the students by using tear gas and canisters against them.
Okwor, who signed the statement, said that the protest by the students of the institution was in exercise of their freedom of movement and expression as recognized by the law.
Okwor, who blamed the protest on hike in students’ school fees, urged the state government to reconsider its decision on the issue in the interest of peace in the state.
“The fundamental rights of citizens as provided in Chapter IV of the 1999 Constitution are sacrosanct and should not be compromised except under the few exceptional situations provided therein.
“Intimidation against citizens by security officers charged with the responsibility of protecting lives and properties does not and cannot reflect a true democratic setting,” she said.
According to her, it has become a trend by state governments to increase school fees of their universities without commensurate effort to improve the standard of education.
“We have noted with sadness that this trend is gradually denying poor students the opportunity to study and make a better life for themselves.” (NAN)
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