At least three students were yesterday injured when heavily-armed policemen led by Commander of the Lagos State Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Mr. Hakeem Odumosu, dispersed hundreds of students of Lagos State University (LASU), who stormed Alausa, the seat of government for another round of protests.

The policemen dispersed the students with gunshots and teargas, injuring three students in the process.

The students had stormed the area with three BRT buses and occupied the entrance leading to Governor Babatunde Fashola’s office, even as it was barricaded by policemen attached to RRS.

The students sang and chanted anti-Fashola songs for several minutes when the police swooped on them on the order of the RRS Commander.

The policemen shot sporadically into the air and released teargas right in front of the Governor’s Office, an action that led the students to take their heels.

The policemen chased the students to the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. They later regrouped at the Magodo Estate gate.

Two students and the driver of one of the BRT buses were arrested and the bus impounded by the police.

Police officers with guns were seen searching for the students. The road leading to the Governor’s Office from the Lagos State House of Assembly was barricaded with police vans.

President, LASU Students Union, Yusuf Nurudeen, told reporters that they had visited to register their displeasure over delay in announcing new fees for students of the institution.

“We also learnt that the government will be meeting with the Governing Council of the school today and that is why we came. We beat the barricade set up by the police and we were singing peacefully at the entrance of the Governor’s Office when we saw policemen.

“They shot at us, teargassed us, shot live bullets at us right in front of the Governor’s Office. It is sad that they shot at us. We came to hear the announcement of the reduction in school fees,” he said.

•Excerpted from a Vanguard report. Photo shows protesting LASU students.

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