BENIN CITY — THREE Students of the Auchi Polytechnic in Edo State were yesterday feared dead and several vehicles and several properties of the institution including the school's medical centre destroyed, following a violent protest by students against the death of a student through the alleged neglect and improper medical attention by the school authority.
Aready, Rector of the institution, Sir Oyinmai Aburume has ordered the closure of the institution until further notice declaring that the damage done by the students was yet to be ascertained but said it was enourmous.
While students resident on campus and around the Auchi town were yesterday seen moving out of the area over the alleged death threat on them issued by indigenous youths for their lack of restraint and destruction of some properties belonging to some prominent natives of the area, including the burning down of the two vehicles owned by the Head of Part-time Studies in the institution, Mr Sunny Jimoh.
Trouble, Vanguard gathered, started during the last part of the on-going Part-Time examination when a student was caught by a lecturer for alleged malpractice and ordered to stand through the exam period but collapsed and died at the medical centre.
But another report has it that the apprehended student was harrassed and collapsed in the exam hall. Attempts by six of his colleague to get him proper medical attention at the centre reportedly failed after a nurse injected the deceaesed student with an unknown drug after the complaints by his colleague that he had not taken any meal for the day.
It was gathered that immediately the six colleagues discovered that the patient had reacted negatively to the injection and died, they rushed to the class and reported the death. The other students abadoned their examination and moved enmasse to the health centre which by now had been abadoned by the nurses and doctors, it was subsequently set ablaze.
The aggrrieved students, not satisfied with their action on the heath centre, moved towards the town to burn down buildings belonging to some senior lecturers of the school resident outside the campus. Two vehicles belonging to the Head of Department, School of Part-Time Studies, Mr Sunny Jimoh were burnt down, while some others descended on innocent motorists, vandalising vehicles and causing other vehicles coming from Abuja-Auchi-Benin road to divert.
Vanguard gathered that two other students of the institution were allegedly killed by a policeman, in their attempt to resist the order of the policemen deployed in the area for them to remove the bonfire blocking vehicular movement in and out of the town. This the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of Auchi, Mr. Abubarkar Ibrahim, denied but said calm has returned to the area.
Speaking with Vanguard yesterday on telephone, Rector of the institution, Sir Oyinmai Aburume said though the situation is under control, the school authority odered a shut down of activities in the school to avoid further attacks and violence in the town. "It is now calm. But as you know, we had to close down the institution as we had ended the full term session and was on the verge of finishing the part time before the ugly incident.”
He said investigation carried out by the school authority revealed that "a student was sick and a lecturer caught him cheating, but in the process, he collapsed and was rushed to the clinic, but the students said the patient, thier colleague, was not well treated and he died. We have appealed to them to calm down and allow us finish investigation. We will let you know, as I am in a meeting now on the issue.”
Students, however yesterday raised an alarm over the safety of their lives following death threats handed them by indigenous youths in the area.
A student, Osadolor Abel, told Vanguard that they were given up to noon today (wednesday) to move out of the area or get attacked.
He alleged that the action of the youths followed alleged vandalisation of properties of prominent natives in the schools.
