Three Students, DPO Injured as Police, Students Clash in Ondo

Three students of the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic Owo (RUGIPO) in Ondo State were reportedly hit yesterday by shots fired by the men of the B Division of the Nigeria Police in the ancient town. THISDAY gathered that the students were hit by shots fired to disperse them when they attacked the police division in protest against the injuries sustained by two students that were hit by a private car belonging to a police officer. The students were said to have vandalsied no fewer than 10 vehicles packed within the police station while the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) for the Otapete, Mr. Akande, was said to have been attacked and now receiving treatment in an undisclosed hospital. The crisis was said have broken out sequel to an allegation by the students that the driver of the private car of a police officer that hit the two students abandoned the victims.

Irked by alleged action of the driver, the students moved to the Police  B Division at Otapete but were repelled by policemen, who fired canisters of tear gas and shot sporadically into the air. Seeing what happened to their colleagues, the students  blocked the ever busy  Owo-Akure Highway in front of their school gate and at Fasawe areas where they made bonfire. The police were said to have later brought in an Armour Personnel Carriers (APC)  to clear the barricades after about three hours. Reacting to the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), for the Ondo State Command, Mr. Femi Joseph, said it was not true that the driver of the vehicle which hit the students abandoned them. Joseph said it was the driver that took the victims to hospitals where they were receiving treatments.