NSUK Students Shot Dead: Army Denied Involvement
At least four protesting
students of the Nasarawa State University, Keffi (NSUK) were shot dead and four
others injured, Monday 25th February, 2013. It was widely reported that the
four students were cold-bloodedly murdered when soldiers and policemen fired
shots to disperse students who were protesting over lack of water at the
university.
According to the
Student Union leader, Rabiu Omame Tijani, the protest started impulsively at
about 7.30am by few students at their hostels but soon snowballed and spilled
into the street.
“The protesting students who were chanting “No
Water, No Road”, blocked the Keffi – Akwanga road and disrupted traffic for
hour”, Tijani disclosed. He said that all efforts by the University’s
Registrar, Mamma Dalhatu and the Chief security Officer, John Aboh to calm the irate
students proved abortive, until armed security personnel came in to break off the
riot and disperse the crowd.
Confirming the shooting,
an official of the Federal Medical Center Keffi, Jamilu Nagogo told newsmen
that six people were brought with gunshot injuries, one of them already dead
while one other person died later at the hospital.
The Nasarawa State
Police Spokesman, DSP Michael Ada, confirmed that there was shooting but said
he was only aware that two students were injured. The University Spokesman,
Jamil Zakari on his part disclosed that he heard of the shooting but could not
confirm by who or any deaths.
In a rather stanch
statement, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has urged the government to hold
those who participated directly or indirectly in the cold-blooded murder of the
four students.
In the statement, the
NLC President, Abdulwahed I. Omar said, “The government should fish them out
immediately and prosecute them in line with the laws of the land”.
But, in its official reaction, the Nigerian Army has
denied reports that its troops killed four students of the Nasarawa State
University who were protesting lack of basic amenities in the institution,
adding that its soldiers did not shoot any of the students during the protest.
Speaking after the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General
Azubuike Ihejirika, received the Indian Vice Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General
Krishna Singh, in his office, the director of Army Public Relations,
Brigadier-General Ibrahim Attahiru said the Army killed no student.
He narrated that, “On February 25, 2013, students of
Nasarawa State University came out en mass and barricaded the Keffi-Akwanga
expressway, which is part of the 177 Guards Battalion patrol routes. This road
was blocked with logs of wood and burning tyres which hampered vehicular
movement, leaving travellers stranded for hours and numerous vehicles damaged by
the violent crowd.
“It was also reported that the irate crowd were
looting travellers’ belongings and throwing stones, bottles and metal objects
at the security operatives. However, it is believed that the protest was
hijacked by some hoodlums and cult members who are students of the university.
“As a result, the violent crowd burnt down two
vehicles at the Police Station located across the campus and seized a tanker
loaded with fuel with the intention of burning down the Police Station.
“The combined efforts of 177 Guards Battalion with
others security operatives prevented the hoodlums from this act. The violent
action of the crowd led to three soldiers of 177 Guards Battalion sustaining
various degrees of injuries from the stones, bottles and metals thrown at them.
“It is important to note that the combined efforts
of the troops in conjunction with other security agencies assisted in
dispersing the crowd and removing the blockades from the road to ease movement
of vehicles. Presently, law and order have been restored in the area and troops
are closely monitoring the situation.”
When asked why soldiers and not police were called
to quell students’ riot, Attahiru said “You are aware of the problem of
communal clashes in Nasarawa State. Troops are on patrol to checkmate the
killings and violence, so the Vice Chancellor did not need to invite soldiers
on patrol who ran into the blockade on a major highway and were engaging in
violence,”
“In any case, let me repeat, our troops did not
shoot any student during the protest. We are very well trained professionals.
Since we did not use live ammunitions, I do not know how we would have shot
anybody. Our troops were not in any way involved in the shooting”, he emphasized.
Over the years the problems associated with police capability
to control crowd have continue to mount. Whenever an initial incident erupts
into a major crowd control problem, most police divisions in Nigeria are
confronted with a difficult manpower problem. To hide the shortfalls in number
and quality of uniformed personnel available for swift deployment, the military
is always beckoned and the fallout disastrous because military orientation and
training is not to control crowd or quench riots by armless citizens.
Dispersal is also a factor. Normal police operations
require personnel to be distributed over the entire geographical area of a
state or city. When disorder erupts, the task of mobilizing all available
manpower becomes enormous. The Commissioner of Police in charge of the State or
Divisional Police Officer in charge of the division, as the case may be, must
weigh the need for police to control the riot against the risk of leaving vital
areas of the city or state without police protection in the meantime.
Most cities in Nigeria do not have enough policemen
quickly available to assure control in the event of a sudden large disorder,
coupled with poor training, discipline and command deficiencies, undefined
police tactic which is responsible for most use of deadly force when the
situation did not call for it are among the very problems that the authority
must address if we must witness less of fatalities during peaceful protests in
Nigeria.
As the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Abdulwahed
I. Omar said, “the nation must invest in lasting
and durable facilities early enough in order to avoid some ‘fire brigade
approach’”.
That is, government
must place high premium on the capacity of the police to prevent disorder
through the provision of appropriate quantity and quality of personnel, technology
and welfare as well as the promotion of security and welfare of the citizens. Towards
this end, “government must re-discover its values and inspire its younger
generation….”
Emergencies
are anticipated in police planning. They range from natural threats like the
recent floods that devastated many states of the country to man-made incidents
like the recent protests by the students of Nasarawa State University, Keffi.
In the civilized world, only law enforcement
agents with the appropriate temperament, education and training relevant to
students’ psychology are usually deployed to campuses.
To get to the root of
the matter the Nasarawa State House of Assembly yesterday Thursday, 29th February, 2013, set up a committee to
investigate the killing of the University students.
The house’s decision
followed the motion by member representing Udege Constituency in the Nasarawa
State House of Assembly, Hon. Mohammed Ibaku under matter of public interest. The
law maker said that students had the fundamental human rights to protest
against water scarcity on their campus.
He condemned the killing of the students,
stressing that, “what happened in Keffi leading to the killing of the students
was unfortunate, uncalled for and ungodly. The students have the right to
protest against lack of water, as it is legitimate.
“It is better to use
the police to maintain law and order when students are protesting than to use
the military personnel.
“I condemned the
killing of the students in its totality, the perpetrators of the act will not
go unpunished”, he said.
Member representing
Kokona East Constituency Hon. Dogara Sa’aka seconded the motion, adding that
the investigation would identify the perpetrators of the act and recommend
appropriate punishments.
Sa’aka said that water
was essential to human life, adding that, “he who provides water provides life”.
Honorable Sa’aka
queried the rationale behind sending soldiers to the university’s campus in
place of the police.
The motion was
unanimously adopted by the house for the setting up of the probe committee.
In his response, the
Speaker of the House, Alhaji Musa Ahmed, directed the House Committees on
Education, Security and Water Resources to investigate the immediate and remote
causes of the incident.
The House also condoled
with the families of the deceased for the irreparable loss of their loved ones;
and observed a minute silence for those who lost their lives during the fatal
protest.
In the same vein, on Tuesday, 26th February, 2013, the Federal House of Representatives, charged its Committees on Army, Security and Police Affairs to undertake a thorough investigation into the killing of the four protesting students of the Nasarawa State University, Keffi by soldiers deployed to quell the protests. The Speaker, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, asked the panel to report to the chamber within two weeks for further legislative action.
In the same vein, on Tuesday, 26th February, 2013, the Federal House of Representatives, charged its Committees on Army, Security and Police Affairs to undertake a thorough investigation into the killing of the four protesting students of the Nasarawa State University, Keffi by soldiers deployed to quell the protests. The Speaker, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, asked the panel to report to the chamber within two weeks for further legislative action.
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