LASU students protest soldiers’ assault on election day.

 

In the early hours of Monday, Lagos State University, Ojo, students’ executives led their colleagues to the Iyana-Oba and Ojo gates and shut them in protest against soldiers’ assaults on them during the presidential election of February 25, 2023.

However, after a few hours,  the management of LASU opened the gates and normalcy returned.

A student who gave her name simply as Dunsin narrated the cause of the protest to our correspondent, saying, “On the presidential election day, some soldiers beat up our Student Union Government President because the SUG hindered community members from entering the campus to vote early enough. The SUG took the initiative because of the safety of the students and staff of LASU.

“They wanted us to vote before granting community members access to our campus.

“However, when the community members eventually entered, they came in with soldiers and beat up our executives and some students. It was announced last Monday (Feb 27th) that there would be a protest today, so, that was the reason the gates were shut for some hours and a protest was held against maltreatment, and assault on students by soldiers.”

A parent who could not exit the campus said the students locked up both the Iyana-Oba and Ojo gates, thereby preventing both vehicular and pedestrian movement.

He said, “We have been here for some hours. The students locked up both gates, and everywhere is filled with vehicles trying to come in and exit. The security men said the students shut the gates because their executives and some students were beaten by soldiers last week. We are all waiting at the gate, no movement.”

The institution’s Public Relations Officer, Mr Olaniyi Jeariogbe, also confirmed that calmness had returned to the campus.

“The students had a disagreement with some security personnel on the campus and they decided to make their grievances known. It was a protest that did not last more than 30 mins and everyone has been moving around peacefully.

“Remember that the students are on break due to the election, so it was just a handful of them that were on ground.  The DSA was also on ground to address the situation, there was no crisis as such.”

Punchng.com