The authorities of the Federal University Oye Ekiti (FUOYE), has closed down the school indefinitely over the violent protest that took place on Tuesday which led to the attack on the convoy of the First lady of Ekiti State ,Erelu Bisi Fayemi.
The Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Kayode Soremekun in a statement made available to Newsmen on Wednesday, stated that the management also proscribed the Students’ Union Government activities in the institution.
Students of the university had on Tuesday held a violent protest to demand for the restoration of electricity to the two campuses in Oye and Ikole, where cars on the convoy of the First lady, who was on a local government tour, were destroyed and many including journalists sustained injuries.
The statement reads in part:” We hereby announce the immediate and indefinite closure of the university to forestall further breakdown of law and order.
“In the same vein, the students’ union of the institution is disbanded indefinitely,” the statement reads.
Meanwhile, the of Ekiti state Government in a statement by the Information Commissioner, Mr. Muyiwa Olumilua, confirmed the attack on Mrs Fayemi.
He said :”The convoy of the Wife of the Governor was attacked with several vehicles vandalised, leaving many people, including journalists, with varying degrees of injuries.
“While not denying the students the right to express their grievances on any issue, it is expected that such be done without resulting to violence.
“As a responsible government, it is on record that the State Government has been engaging the electricity company (BEDC) on how to improve the power situation in parts of the state, long before this unfortunate incident, and promise to continue to engage them on the improvement of their service delivery to Ekiti state,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Ekiti chapter, Rotimi Ojomoyela , has condemned the attacks on his members, urging security agencies to fish out the perpetrators.
Recounting how the incident happened, a journalist with Core Television station in Lagos, Sunkanmi Ogunmuko, said Mrs Fayemi was already conducting the empowerment programme at the civic centre in Oye Ekiti when the incident occurred.
Ogunmuko said the came on their hundreds from both Oye and Ikole campuses and started destroying vehicles with sticks and other dangerous weapons. They destroyed over ten cars in the convoy and wounded journalists and other participants.
