Poisoning OAU dam, act of genocide —Management

The management of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, has described the poisoning of its dam by suspected hoodlums as an act of genocide against staff and students of the institution.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some aggrieved indigenes of Ile-Ife, who claimed ownership of some portions of the university land, had on April 3 invaded the university and allegedly poisoned the institution’s dam with a chemical.

The university’s Public Relations Officer Abiodun Olanrewaju, who conducted journalists round the disputed land and the dam within the school  premises Wednesday said the poisoning of the dam was genocidal.

Olanrewaju said the chemical used in poisoning the dam, which was the only source of water for the university, killed all the aquatic animals in it.

He however said that the dam had been treated and was now safe to drink.

“The act is condemnable and wicked.

“How can some group of people poison the only source of water where over 36,000-strong university population was  drinking from.

“The act is genocidal and wicked.

“They came through the Parakin area of the town to poison the dam but God was so good to us that immediately the dam was poisoned, rain fell for two days which washed  the poisonous chemical away.

“ We have treated the water and laboratory test had been done on it and now it is very safe to drink.”

Olanrewaju said the disputed land belongs to the federal government so the university was not ready to concede it to anybody.

He said the land which is about 162 hectares was given to the university in the 1960s by the then Ooni of Ife, Oba Adesoji Aderemi, but land grabbers had started selling some portions of the land to people while construction workers working on the proposed OAU International Secondary School on the land were chased away with cutlasses and other dangerous weapons by the hoodlums.

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