By Muhammad Tanko Shittu
Jos
Not fewer than seven students of the University of Jos were yesterday injured by gunshots fired by unidentified security operatives during a protest that led to the closure of the institution by the school authorities.
Spokesman of the Special Task Force (STF) deployed to restore law and order in Jos, the Plateau state capital, Captain Ikedichi Iwela, confirmed the news to our correspondent in Jos.
He said: “Four students were shot by yet to be identified security operatives while protesting. The injured students are currently receiving treatment at the STF clinic at the headquarters.
“We had to rush them to our clinic for treatment because government hospitals are currently on strike. The injured students are responding to treatment.”
He denied the involvement of the STF in the shooting.
However, our correspondent, who was at the Plateau State Specialist Hospital, observed that three other injured students were taken for treatment.
No deaths had been recorded yesterday as at the time of filing in this report.
Meanwhile, Police in the state have denied the involvement of their personnel in the shooting.
The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Nasiru Oki, told our correspondent on phone: “When we got the news of the protest, we immediately deployed our men to the scene of the protest to protect public property and to forestall any breakdown of law and order, but none of our men fired any shot.”
The university students were shot on the second day of their protest over an alleged increment in their school fees and calling on the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Hayward Mafuyai, to rescind his decision or resign.
The students, who were expected to commence their second semester examination last Monday, insisted that the school management must revert the N50,000 new school fees it imposed on students to the N27,400 they had been paying.
