By DAYO ADESULU
The five-day old protest by students of the University of Lagos, UNILAG, over the change of its name to Moshood Abiola University, Lagos, MAUL, yesterday nearly degenerated into violence as the police and students clashed, leading to a first year female student being nearly choked to death by smoke from canisters of tear gas thrown into the instititution by policemen. This is even as the suit challenging the change of name comes up before the Federal High Court on June 17.
The five-day old protest by students of the University of Lagos, UNILAG, over the change of its name to Moshood Abiola University, Lagos, MAUL, yesterday nearly degenerated into violence as the police and students clashed, leading to a first year female student being nearly choked to death by smoke from canisters of tear gas thrown into the instititution by policemen. This is even as the suit challenging the change of name comes up before the Federal High Court on June 17.
According to sources, some miscreants had capitalised on the protest along Yaba road and started to forcefully collect money from motorists, a situation that drew the attention of the policemen posted to the area to quell the situation before it escalated.
The situation however degenerated to a level where the policemen pursued the protesters to UNILAG where they threw tear gas at them to disperse them, just as the students threw stones at the police operatives.
One Tolulope, a fisrt year, Sciences student who was at the scene said: “As we were planning to go out for protest this morning, our leader told us to converge at the school gate and not to cause trouble. Suddenly, the policemen that had been following us since Tuesday when we started the peaceful protest divided into two groups.
“One of the groups that left suddenly came back with canisters of tear gas and fired them into the air. That was how one of the female students fell unconscious. While we were trying to revive her, the police kept shooting the gas into the air with tear gas launchers but we managed to take her to the school clinic.”
The Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations in Lagos State, Mr Tunde Sobulo, however denied any wrong doing by the police saying the female student slumped on her own.
He explained: “We have been here since midnight, but all of a sudden, some students started leaving the campus to Herbert Marcauley road, blocking the road and started collecting money from motorists and forcing them to put green leaves on their cars as sign of solidarity with them. These were the people we pursued to the university gate. On sighting us, the students thought we were after them, hence, they started throwing stones at us.
He explained: “We have been here since midnight, but all of a sudden, some students started leaving the campus to Herbert Marcauley road, blocking the road and started collecting money from motorists and forcing them to put green leaves on their cars as sign of solidarity with them. These were the people we pursued to the university gate. On sighting us, the students thought we were after them, hence, they started throwing stones at us.
”If we had not used force to push them backwards, by now, all of them would have been all over the places.
“The lady they alleged we beat was coming behind when she slumped.
“Do not forget that we have a responsibility to protect lives and properties of the people in the community. I am telling you, take a roll call of the students and you will discover that many of them are not genuine students of this institution.
’’Some are not even students at all, but capitalised on the protest to do evil. We cannot be watching them like that.If anything goes wrong, it is you journalists who will turn back and say, but the Police were there when it happened.”
“Do not forget that we have a responsibility to protect lives and properties of the people in the community. I am telling you, take a roll call of the students and you will discover that many of them are not genuine students of this institution.
’’Some are not even students at all, but capitalised on the protest to do evil. We cannot be watching them like that.If anything goes wrong, it is you journalists who will turn back and say, but the Police were there when it happened.”
However, Sobulo said that he will not allow the students to provoke them to do any uncivilised thing.
Meanwhile, Oluyinka has taken President Jonathan and the Attorney-General of the Federation to court over the renaming of UNILAG.
He asked the court to determine that the action of the President by declaring in his broadcast that the name of the University be changed ultra-vires the provisions of the Act establishing the University and therefore null and void and of no effect;
*Whether the action of the President by declaring in his broadcast that the name of the University be changed is a breach of the doctrine of separation of powers which Nigeria practices under its Presidential System of Government; and
Whether the Honourable Court should, in the circumstances reverse the name of the University to its original state being the name with which the Act establishing it provided for in its long title, short title, interpretation section and the entire body of the Act.
Meawhile, the Vice President, Distance Learning, UNILAG, Comrade, David Thomas Udo, said that “Our grievance was because President Goodluck Jonathan unilaterally changed the name of UNILAG to MAUL without consulting with the Vice Chancellor, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Senate, ASUU, SSANU and the Students Union Government, SUG, among others. We see it as an act of tyranny. However, the case is already in the court due for hearing on June 17, 2012.’’
Students of the University of Lagos sit on a police van during their protest in Lagos on Wednesday (30/5/12). The senate of the university suspended academic activities for two weeks, following continued students protest over change of name of the institution. NAN Photo
Udo, added that the protest was suspended on Thursday in honour of their late Vice Chancellor, Professor Babatunde Sofoluwe who was buried that day. “We shall continue this protest until it is reverted to UNILAG,” he further said.
Abiola’s wife hails renaming of UNILAG
As controversies continue to trail the renaming of the University of Lagos to Moshood Abiola University, wife of the acclaimed winner of the June 12 presidential elections, Mrs. Akasoba Zainab Duke-Abiola has expressed gratitude to President Goodluck Jonathan for immortalising her husband.
The late politician’s wife who hailed the courage of President Jonathan noted with nostalgia that there comes a time in the history of a nation when justice must rise like a Phoenix to redirect the affairs of men.
“That my brother, President Jonathan, in a fisherman’s hat, sitting in Aso Rock as Commander-in-Chief, can listen to his sister, Queen Akasoba of Kalabari and pick up his pen to re-name a university in the “Centre of Excellence” Moshood Abiola University calls for sober reflection,” she said.
While lamenting that some Nigerians misinterpreted the President’s gesture as political maneuver, she described the move as a good act from one good man to another”. It was a post-humous handshake from one victim to another, a recognition that a goodman made the supreme sacrifice to an ungrateful nation,” she added.
The Queen of Kalabari described MKO Abiola as encapsulation of our collective struggle towards the enthronement of true democracy, adding that as a symbol of real democracy, any honour accorded him would not be too much.
