Some 1000 students of the Nwafor Orizu College of
Education Nsugbe, Anambra State, yesterday barricaded both lanes of the
Enugu-Onitsha Expressway over alleged extortion, intimidation and harassment by
officials and agents of the state government.
The protesting students under the auspices of Joint
Campus Committee (JCC), carried placards with various inscriptions, ‘Voice of
student must be heard,’ ‘Students say no to intimidation,’ ‘Uju Akudo Must Go,’
‘Commissioner for Transport Encouraging Touts,’ among others.
The students chanted solidarity songs, disrupted
vehicular movement and businesses for several hours, insisting they would not
vacate the road unless they were addressed by the state governor.
It was learnt that it took a re-enforcement team led
by Superintendent Willie Odumu from Police Headquarters to disperse the
protesters after an unsuccessful attempt by a team led by Anthony Akpeyi, DPO
of B-Division.
Speaking to newsmen, Chairman of JCC in Anambra, Betty
Okoye, said the students could no longer condone the situation where agents who
claimed to be working for government inflicted hardship on students. Okoye said
the alleged agents of government frustrated the bus station designated for
students’ shuttle park in Onitsha from functioning.
He said the students paid between N50 and N70 using the
designated park but were being made to pay between N150 and N200 by illegal
agents, and called on Governor Willie Obiano to stop the illegal agents from
conniving with officials of government to cause hardship for students and give
him bad image.
Addressing the protesters, the special adviser to the
State governor on political matters, Chinedu Obidigwe, thanked them for
conducting themselves peacefully and assured them that their request would
reach the governor.
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Society