•Call for proscription of SUG
From Lateef Dada, Osogbo
Angry students of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State, yesterday, staged a protest against the mob killing of Okolie Arinze, a 500-level Civil Engineering student of the institution.
The protesting students stormed the Students’ Union Building and shut it down, calling for the immediate proscription of the students union.
The protesters, under the Faculty of Technology, said they would continue to express their grievances until all parties involved in the killing are held accountable.
The Dean of Students Affairs, Prof I. O. Aransi, pleaded with the students to allow peace and the free flow of vehicles on campus. He promised that the management will tackle it with utmost concern, adding that the institution was pained over the development.
One of the leaders of the protest, who simply identified himself as Ayanfe of the Technology and Engineering Students Association (TESA), demanded that the investigation be spread to the Central Executive Council, noting that information revealed that the deceased spent nothing less than 12 hours at the Students’ Union Building before he died there. He insisted that the students’ union building must remain shut pending the conclusion of the investigation on the matter.
The protesters cautioned that there should be no representative of the students union on campus till further notice, adding that “none of them came out to give concrete information on what happened.”
They asked for the inclusion of the Faculty of Technology students in the committee set up by the management, to ensure that justice is served in the matter. The protesters demanded that the conventional application of Scientific Maximum Shishi (SMS) and parading of offenders be eradicated finally from the OAU campus.
Meanwhile, the Public Relations Officer of the university, Abiodun Olanrewaju, disclosed that the management, headed by the Vice Chancellor, Prof Simeon Bamire, has set up a committee to unravel the circumstances that led to the alleged killing. He said the management would continue with its investigation without tampering with the ongoing efforts of the police.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Yemisi Opalola, confirmed that two leaders of the student union were in the police net in connection with the killing. She said the investigation has commenced, assuring that the killers would be fished out.