Protests in Osogbo as police shoot 2 UNIOSUN students

Two students of the Osun State University (UNIOSUN), Osogbo, were on Saturday shot by a police patrol team while playing football off campus at a pitch in Oke Baale area of the state capital. The students, Kazeem Adesola and Ibrahim Ajao, were critically injured. Police bullets reportedly hit one in the stomarch and the other one in the mouth.
The police men alleged to have come from the Zone 11 of the Nigerian Police Force controlling Osun, Oyo and Ondo states, were said be in mufti and accused some of the students of involving in internet fraud otherwise known as yahoo-yahoo. A student, who witnessed the incident, said the policemen were in the habit of harassing and extorting residents of the area.
He added that an attempt by the students to resist the harassment led to the shooting. Preferring anonymity, he said: “We were playing football when they came. They always come like that to arrest students here. They would say that we are involved in yahoo-yahoo and they would seize our laptops and phones. They would collect money on the pretext of bail.
“But we resisted them on this last one. Within a twinkle of an eye, the policemen started shooting. When the policemen started shooting, we ran away but the bullet hit two of us and they were rushed to the hospital. The bullet hit one near the stomach and the bullet hit the second one in the mouth.
The situation later led to protest by the students of the university, marching from Oke- Baale to Olaiya junction. The protest that lasted several hours caused trafick gridlock around Oke Baale, Oja-Oba and other major roads leading to Gbongan road.
Meanwhile, the state Police Commissioner, Mr. Fimihan Adeoye, said that the policemen have been arrested and detained. The police boss, who told journalists that he had ordered an investigation into the matter, cautioned the students of the institution not to take laws into their hands.
Speaking on the incident, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Labode Popoola, said the students were exposed to danger because they live off campus. He disclosed that plans are underway to build hostels for students on campus in order to monitor their activities and keep them safe.

Source: The Nation