By Opeyemi Babalola
There is panic in Akure as security forces identified as soldiers, on Tuesday, allegedly opened fire on students protesting against the prolonged strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities.
The students who are from the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko and Olusegun Agagu University of Technology, Okitipupa, barricaded the Ilesha/ Akure highway, Ondo state to demand an end to the incessant strikes in the public universities.
In a video of the incident obtained by University Times International, the students who had gone out for a second-day protest today, scampered for safety when the soldiers began shooting sporadically.
“The Nigerian Army; they came here and started shooting. See all our things. See what the Nigerian Army did to us,” one of the aggrieved students lamented in the video.
“The Nigerian Army that should protect us; see our equipment. We were here peacefully. We are fighting for our rights. See all our things,” another student fumed in the video.
As of press time, the Nigerian Army is yet to issue any statement on the matter.
Recall that the National Association of Nigerian Students had ordered the students in the public universities to protest on federal roads for three hours in order to force the government to reopen the varsities.
