Police Has Brutalized,Arrest 100 Students During Peaceful ProtestJAF

Mu’Sodiq Adekunle-The Joint Action Front has lamented that Police brutalised and arrested no fewer than 100 comprising of students, activists and journalists during a protest against the ongoing strike embarked upon by the polytechnic and colleges of education lecturers. Daily Times reports

It said the protest had thousands of students from Yaba College of Technology; Federal Polytechnics’ students from Ede, Ilaro, Offa, and Federal Colleges of Education from Akoka-Lagos and other states across the country when the incident happened on Wednesday.

It said the protest was to lobby the government to implement agreements reached with ASUP and COEASU in order to ensure the return to academic normalcy for the Polytechnics and Colleges of Education students.

The statement read: "JAF whose members were part of the MASS PROTEST organized today May 28 by the Concerned Students against Education Commercialisation (COSATEC) wishes to strongly condemn the trigger happy armed police REPRESSION of the peaceful protest, culminating in the arrest and brutality of over 100 students, activists, and journalists.

"The peaceful procession of students and activists under the leadership of the National Coordinator and National Secretary of COSATEC. The peaceful protest started with a procession from the gate of YABATECH at about 10am and marched peacefully through the Murtala Mohammed Way Ebute Metta, enroute to erect Barricade at the entrance of the Third Mainland Bridge by Adekunle junction.

"It was at this point that the Police descended heavily on the peaceful protest with sporadic shooting of teargas, live ammunition and beating of harmless students, activists and journalists with gun butts. Some of the buses that carried students during the procession were not spared as their windscreen were shattered. Even the symbolic Coffin and Cow inscribed with “Death to Education in Nigeria” were targets of police destruction.

"Worst of all was the brutalization of Mr. Segun Akinpelu, a renowned reporter with the Sahara Reporters whose was mercilessly brutalized and his camera and other recording gadgets were completely destroyed into pieces. To cap it all, over 100 students, journalists and activists that included Comrade Akanni Iromini of Awake Nigeria and Mr. Akinpelu were arrested and bundled into a Black Maria.

"While in the Black Maria, the following phone conversations were exchanged with the Secretary of JAF by Comrade Akanni and Mr. Segun:

From Akanni: 'Police supplied cold water sachets to cool down the heat in the Black Maria stationed at the entrance of Third Mainland Bridge at Adekunle .”

From Segun: 'I have been bruised and arrested along with the protesting students by policemen. My camera broken and all my gadgets taken away. We are still in Black Maria at the Adekunle junction."

   JAF commended the resistance by the students and other civil society activists in the protests, which forced the Police authority to eventually free the arrested and detained students and activists from the suffocating Black Maria, after 3 hours, and were driven to the back street of YABATECH to disembark at about 3.30pm