AGGRIEVED students of Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, Ile-Ife, Osun State, yesterday, protested over the lynching of Okolie Arinze, a 500-level Civil Engineering student of the institution.
Arinze was said to have been mobbed by students resident inside Awo Hall, on Monday, before he was handed over to the Students’ Union leadership, where he was allegedly detained till Tuesday when he collapsed and was pronounced dead on getting to the hospital.
The protesting students from the Faculty of Technology stormed the Students’ Union building and shut it down, demanding that it should be locked pending the outcome of the investigation.
They also barricaded the main road, thereby blocking vehicular movements in and out of the campus until the Dean of Student Affairs, Prof. Isiaka Aransi, addressed them.
Speaking on behalf of the students, the President of the Technology and Engineering Students’ Association, who simply identified himself as Ayanfe, said the students want the SUB shut as well as a prescription of the SUG till further notice.
He said.“It is unfortunate that the stories we are hearing now are disturbing, the students’ union leaders are nowhere to be found. To this end, we demand that the investigation be extended to the Central Student Executive Council. We also demanded that representatives of the Faculty of Technology be part of the investigating panel.
“For now, there shouldn’t be a student representative on campus till after the investigation. We also demand that parading and beating of suspects should be stopped henceforth on the campus.”
We’ll ensure justice is done—School mgt
Responding, Aransi said the management would ensure that justice was done and non of the culprits would be allowed to go scot-free.
Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Simeon Bamire after the incident on Tuesday in a statement by the Public Relations Officer, Abiodun Olarewaju, constituted a committee to unravel the circumstances surrounding the death of the studen
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