Facility shortage spark riots in University of Uyo A student was reportedly killed by security agents. Riots erupted Wednesday at the University of Uyo as students, protesting insufficient lecture venues and poor transportation system, shut the school’s campuses. Unconfirmed reports say police fired tear gas at hundreds of students who barricaded the school’s entrances after forcing out security personnel. The report claims one student was killed. PREMIUM TIMES could not immediately confirm those details. A school spokesperson, Godfrey Essien, said he was on leave and was piecing details of what actually happened. But a resident of the school community said the students, mainly of Science and Engineering faculties, went on rampage in protest against the relocation of the Science Faculty from the school’s temporary site along Ikpa Road to the permanent site at Nsukara Offot. The new site lacks enough infrastructure to accommodate the relocating Science students, and the Engineering students who had moved in earlier, leading to infrequent confrontation. The Engineering students are said to occasionally bar the Science students from using the limited lecture rooms and school shuttle buses between the old and new campuses, about 10 kilometers apart. N200 per day student bus The relocation of the Science students merely compounded the hardship already faced by students on the permanent site, situated along the road leading to the city’s new airport. The tipping point, according to the resident, came after the Science students-having been barred from using the shuttle buses- sought self-help and were asked by the school management to pay N200 each, per day, for returning trips on the buses. Under official arrangements, the Engineering students pay N1, 000 per semester for the same service. “The students just said they cannot have that again and they blocked the roads and everywhere,” the resident said. More details late
Posted on: Wed, 12 Jun 2013 20:08:16 +0000
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