A visitor to Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, would
marvel at the extent of destruction of the institution’s property by its
rampaging students, despite an age-long tradition of the school which forbids
the destruction of anything on campus during protests, in line with the
tradition at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, which ACE is
affiliated to.
During the protest, the students went for the bust of Rev.
Canon Adeyemi, after whom the institution was named, and destroyed it. The
College Provost, Prof. Adeyemi Idowu, described it as “unwarranted.”
The students had carried out a spontaneous violent protest
against an alleged insensitivity of the institution’s management to mysterious
deaths of some of their colleagues in the last two months. They said no fewer
than 20 students had died in questionable circumstances, a development that had
created fear, insecurity and panic on campus.
The students, led by their President, Mr. Akintola
Akindojutimi had, earlier on the day of the mayhem, approached the
institution’s authorities to demand a three-week break to enable them travel to
their various homes to inform their parents about the strange happenings on the
campus.
Akindojutimi had also argued that the short break would
afford the student union and the institution’s management the opportunity to
arrange a spiritual session to stem the trend. The provost said he turned down
the suggestions because their examinations were fast approaching and that
disrupting the academic calendar at that crucial period would affect the
graduating students and prevent them from going for the mandatory one year
national youth service programme.
While briefing the Osemawe of Ondo Kingdom, Oba Victor
Kiladejo, the provost denied that 20 of the students had died; rather, he said,
only four deaths were reported to the management in the last six months.
He gave the identities of the deceased students as:
Igbasan Victor Temitope, a Primary Education Study student in the NCE programme
who died in his sleep at his parents’ home; Taiwo OlaOluwa Gabriel, confirmed
to be a sickle cell anaemia patient. He died in his Ikere Ekiti home during a
visit to his parents. Others are Adeniyi Akinlabi Frank, who died in his
parents’ home about three months ago during the holidays; and Kafidiya
Mojisola, a third year student in the Department of Biology Education who died
during childbirth in her home town.
Idowu said the student union executive had
agreed to organise a spiritual session with the management on the issue last
Monday, but decided to go violent when they heard that one of their colleagues
slumped and was rushed to the college health centre. The provost said there was
a rumour that the student had died, whereas health personnel at the clinic
stabilised his condition and discharged him.
Idowu lamented that a female student of the institution,
simply identified as Aishat, led scores of her colleagues to vandalise his car
and 48 other vehicles. He said he was holding a management meeting when the
students stormed his office.
He said, “We had, earlier on Monday, held a meeting with
the student union executives, where we agreed to hold an interdenominational
service to pray about the deaths.
“They claim that 20 of their colleagues had died, but they
cannot mention more than four people who had lost their lives in the last six
months; and there is nothing mysterious about the deaths.
“While the meeting was ongoing, I saw a young lady, who we
later identified as Aishat, armed with an iron, go straight to my official car
and started vandalising it while she directed others to do a similar thing to
the vehicles of other members of staff.
“Occasionally, she ordered her colleagues to haul stones
at my office whenever she sensed that someone was peeping though the window,”
the provost stated.
He said the damage would have been more than that if the
police had not come to restore order.
Idowu also explained that the academic board of the
college had ratified the decision to close down the school indefinitely, while
a committee had been set up to investigate the incident and submit its report
within three weeks.
Our correspondent learnt that the timetable for the second
semester examinations slated for next month had been altered due to the latest
development.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state command,
Mr. Aremu Adeniran, confirmed that 11 students had been arrested and detained
at the state Criminal Investigation Department in connection with the uprising.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Edgar
Nanakumo, visited the campus the following day to ascertain the level of
destruction. He confirmed that the arrested students would be prosecuted.
While the protest lasted, the students vandalised
virtually all the structures on the campus, including their classrooms,
eateries, and banks. They also blocked the Ondo-Ore Expressway and caused
serious traffic congestion with bonfire.
Also, they prevented members of staff from leaving their
offices, as they were seen throwing stones at the offices at 5:30pm last
Monday.
While Adeniran described the crisis as an internal issue
between the students and their institution’s management, he said policemen were
promptly drafted to the scene to maintain peace and to ensure that the
protesting students were prevented from blocking the major road in front of the
campus.
He said, “Policemen were stationed outside the campus to
ensure that the crisis did not spread outside the school. We were on top of the
situation and ensured normal flow of traffic.”
Some students who spoke on condition of anonymity
attributed their action to the insensitivity of the management to their
apprehension. They claimed that the artworks on the campus, including the bust
of Canon Adeyemi, usually turn to human beings at nights hawking all sorts of
commodities, including GSM recharge cards.
Akindojutimi, the SUG president, insisted that the crisis
would have been avoided if the institution’s management had heeded his
suggestion to allow the students proceed on a short break.
He said, “After sensing the impending danger, I alerted
the authorities but they rebuffed all my fears and described them as mere
rumour.”
Akindojutimi said the students were mobilised against him
by those who contested election against him. He said that they accused him of
being the cause of the problems on the campus