The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) on Thursday refuted the claim by the Ogun State deputy governor, Mrs Noimot Salako-Oyedele, that students of the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, attacked her convoy during a protest in the capital city on Wednesday.

Addressing newsmen at the entrance of MAPOLY, Abeokuta, the NANS Ogun Joint Campus Committee chairman, Adeyanju Francis, described the claim by the office of the deputy governor that the protesting students blocked her convoy to attack it as spurious and far from the truth.

The office of the Ogun State deputy governor had, through a press statement on Wednesday, said that the convoy of Mrs Salako-Oyedele was blocked along the OPIC-Oke Ilewo Road by the protesting students who were armed with cudgels and other dangerous weapons.

The statement also claimed that some vehicles in the convoy were damaged by the irate students during the alleged attack.

Refuting the claims, however, Adeyanju insisted that the office of the deputy governor lied.

According to him, the peaceful protest, which was well supervised by security agencies, was turned on its head by trigger-happy security personnel attached to the deputy governor, who fired a volley of gunshots at the defenceless students.

“The incident will surely be a landmark in the history of student struggle in our dear state when students on a peaceful protest were fired at by the security operatives attached to the convoy of the deputy governor of Ogun State, Mrs Noimot Salako-Oyedele.

“I’m even more saddened by the manner the media handlers of the Number Two citizen of our dear state spun the event and stood the truth on its head. The scenario of what transpired was manipulated in a way that victims were coloured to be the oppressors.

“Instead of the innocent students who were shot at with live ammunition screaming blue murder, those responsible for the inglorious act changed the story from being the hunters to the hunted.

“It is indeed a pity that the deputy governor, who is supposed to be a mother and show empathy to the oppressed students, decided to aggravate their precarious situation.

“Though the media were awash with the false version of the event of what really happened yesterday (Wednesday), the NANS in Ogun State is here this morning to correct the erroneous picture painted by the office of the deputy governor.

“Contrary to the claims by the office of the deputy governor that the peaceful protesters broke into her convoy and attacked her with cudgels and other dangerous weapons, it was indeed the security operatives attached to the convoy who opened fire on the students.

“The students, who were on their way to the Governor’s Office in Oke Mosan to present their grievances, met the convoy of the deputy governor at Oke Ilewo and never surged towards her. Rather, they were singing and chanting Aluta songs to let the deputy governor also know their predicament.

“Alas! The show of love and respect for the deputy governor by the students was misconstrued by the overzealous and trigger-happy security in her convoy, who, instead of observing the situation properly, decided to open fire on the defenceless students.

“In fact, the first shot fired grazed the arm of a NANS leader, while others scampered for safety. Having realised their folly, however, the convoy quickly made a U-turn. Nevertheless, gunshots continued to rend the air. It was God Almighty who protected the students from the lethal assault by these security operatives.

“Meanwhile, the students were yet to come out of the delirious situation when the news, concocted by the office of the deputy governor, started to fly around that the protesting students blocked her convoy, attacked her, and she barely escaped from being lynched. What a laughable and puerile claim!

“It is no news that the students of the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, embarked on a peaceful protest over the astronomical increase in school fees and the illegal dissolution of the Students’ Union Government of the school by the management.

“Apparently dissatisfied by the arbitrary increase in the tuition fees, the students trooped out to protest the draconian and insensitive decision by the school management. As law-abiding citizens, the security agents, including the police and the Department of the State Services (DSS), were notified of the protest.

“In fact, the police provided the necessary cover to ensure the protest was not only peaceful and orderly but to prevent it from being hijacked by hoodlums. The protest, which started at the gate of MAPOLY peacefully, was, however, truncated and almost turned bloody by the convoy of the deputy governor, with a staccato of gunshots around OPIC-Lalubu Road in Oke Ilewo Area of Abeokuta,” Adeyanju stated.

He pointed out that the press conference was organised to set the record straight and let the people of Ogun State know that the protesting students did not, at any time, obstruct the convoy of Engr Noimot Salako-Oyedele during the Wednesday protest in Abeokuta.

“Rather, it was the merciless and inhumane security details attached to her convoy who opened fire on the defenceless students.

“We have video evidence and tell-tale signs to back our assertions. Onlookers who witnessed the event at Oke Ilewo yesterday can also testify to this.

“In fact, some of the vehicles in the convoy were actually damaged as they hit one another when the drivers were trying to make a detour after the security details fired a volley of live bullets at the students.

“To this end, NANS is calling on our amiable and indefatigable governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, to order an investigation into the matter in order to unravel the truth.

“In conclusion, we hereby demand an apology from the deputy governor as well as a retraction of the falsehood hewn against the students by her office within 24 hours.

“Failure to comply with our demands, the NANS in Ogun State will mobilise en masse, students across the six zones of the apex student body, and march in protest against the injustice, unwarranted, and unprovoked attacks on the students on a peaceful protest by the convoy of the deputy governor,” Adeyanju submitted. (Daily Sun)