Ogun: Police fire teargas at protesting OOU students

Policemen

Students of Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye, Ogun state, staged a protest on Sunday over what they described as brutality against their colleagues by officers of the Oru-Ijebu police command.

In a statement on Saturday, Oluseyi Babaseyi, spokesperson for the Ogun police command, said some students stormed the Oru-Ijebu police station on Saturday, claiming some of their colleagues were detained.

Babaseyi said despite the DPO in charge of the division confirming that no student was in his custody, the students attacked the police station, forcing officers to disperse them with “minimal force” to prevent an escalation. “The students became agitated, breached the station gate, threw stones and bottles, threatening police personnel and property,” he said.

“Reinforcements were called and teargas was used to disperse the crowd. Normalcy has since been restored.”

Dissatisfied with the police statement, the OOU student union, on Sunday called for a massive showdown at the police station.

In a statement issued at 1:30am on Sunday and signed by Kehinde Bamgbose, president; Olajire Emmanuel, general secretary; and Salau Olamide, public relations officer, the OOU student union condemned the “disturbing and inhumane actions” by officers at the Oru Ijebu police station, alleging that students were subjected to assault, unlawful arrest and gunfire.

According to the union, the incident began after reports emerged that some students had been arrested under unclear circumstances.

The student union said its legal director, who visited the station to verify the situation, was assaulted, kicked, choked and manhandled by police officers, while a student accompanying him was slapped.