Students shut down UI over colleague’s death, beat reporter

For several hours, Students of the University of Ibadan (UI) yesterday paralyzed administrative and academic activities in the institution while protesting the death of one of their colleagues.

The entrant gates into the institution were put under lock and key as the students moved from one faculty to another stopping lectures and calling for more mobilization.

Mayowa Alaran, a 200 level student in the Human Kinetics Education Department had slumped on Wednesday night while watching the European league match in his hall of residence, Independence hall.

Alaran who was said to have suffocated and fainted was rushed to the university health centre where he was confirmed dead. But the irate students blamed his death on the negligence of the university health centre management and insisted that they must be penalized.

The Guardian gathered that a call was made by the deceased hall-mates for university ambulance to pick the student which was allegedly rebuffed before he was eventually rushed down to the health centre located few metres to Kuti Hall.

Speaking with reporters on the development, Student Union President, Odesola Olufemi alleged that rather than commencing immediate treatment, staffs at the health centre were demanding for the Student’s Identity Card, which eventually resulted in the death of the student.

Although the Vice Chancellor, Prof Isaac Adewole addressed the student at the Jaja clinic and announced the setting up of a five-man committee to harmonize the demands of the students. He assured that the university would investigate the matter; the visibly angry students seemed unconvinced.

They blocked major roads connecting several faculties while those who had businesses to do on campus had to climb the fence. Odesola demanded a better welfare and health emergency management from the authorities adding that the irresponsibility of the management was responsible for Alaran’s death.

He said, ‎”because of the inadequacies of Jaja management and their irresponsibility in acceding to emergencies, the guy gave up and now we are demanding a total restoration of health emergencies in Jaja and other students welfare structures such as water and electricity.

We are tired of our university management irresponsibility and we shall use this struggle to fight for our rights” Meanwhile, the correspondent of the New Telegraph newspaper, Sola Adeyemo, was beaten by the students with his shirt roughened and torn.

The reporter who tried to cover the incident attempted to take the photograph of a university official who was addressing the students when the irate students seized his BlackBerry Z3 phone.

He was attacked by the rampaging students who insisted that he must delete the photograph taken. Adeyemo while narrating his experience said, “an elderly policeman was asking for my mission and I told him I am a journalist, but in the course of explaining, the students started beating me, hitting me with blows on my head.

One was pulling my shirt from behind while another was pulling my pair of trousers till the belt snapped and the trousers went down. “While beating me, a younger fair complexioned police man insisted on collecting my phone and I handed it over to him.

He had the tag Oladepo Ebenezer on his uniform. I released the phone to him believing that it was safer with him than with the irate students. “The elderly police man tried to whisk me out of the place while some students were still beating and rough-handling me.

Two of the students shepherded me away as I wangled my way in the traffic to a safer place. “I later called Mr Mohammed Oladejo, the Director of Communication of the University to complain to him and he directed I should lodge the complaint with the security men at the institution’s gate. Having told them and described the identity of the policeman, the security boss there went to meet the policemen, but later came back and told me that the policeman, whom I gave the phone to said that the students had collected it from him”.