Ekiti varsity students protest death of final year student

Students of the Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti on Friday went on the rampage and set ablaze six vehicles including an ambulance belonging to the institution, a bus, and a security van parked in front of the administrative block.

No fewer than 15 other vehicles were damaged during the violent protest which forced other students as well as members of staff to vacate the campus.

Armed policemen were seen at the entrance of the university on Saturday while an armour personnel carrier was also seen patrolling the campus.

It was gathered that the protest was triggered when the news of the death of a final year student of Accountancy Department, Abiola Teslim Yusuf, who was knocked down by a vehicle filtered into the campus.

Some of the students told our correspondent that Yusuf and some other students had asked the driver of the vehicle, who had come to drop his friend, for money but he refused.

While trying to speed away from the scene, the car was said to have knocked down the student.

The deceased student was said to be a leader of a cult group on the campus and members of his cult were said to have mobilised other cultists and unleashed terror on the campus.

Our correspondent who visited the campus on Saturday observed that apart from the vehicles burnt and those whose windscreens were shattered, virtually all the buildings on the campus had their window panes shattered by the rampaging students.

The Vice-Chancellor of EKSUTH, Prof. Oladipo Aina, who later addressed journalists, said the damage done to the university was unprecedented.

He said the authority would fish out all those who participated in the destruction of the university whether they are students or members of staff.

The vice chancellor said the accident which eventually led to the death of the student happened on Wednesday and the student was taken to a hospital in Ikere for treatment.

According to him, the victim was transferred to an intensive care unit at Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital but the hospital could not handle the case because there was no neurosurgeon to attend to him.