Students of Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, Ondo state, on Friday, staged a peaceful protest over the death of a National Diploma student of the Department of Science Laboratory Technology, Folarera Ademola.
The protesting students hijacked the hearse conveying the remains of Ademola and took out the coffin with which they protested through the streets of Owo, Owo Local Government Area.
They also took the coffin to the Governor’s Office in Akure chanting solidarity songs.
Ademola reportedly died from injuries sustained after he was allegedly shot by an operative of the Ondo Amotekun.
The protesters issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the state government to hand over the trigger-happy operative to the Nigeria Police for prosecution.
They also demanded compensation for Ademola’s bereaved family and bear the cost of his burial.
President of the institution’s Students Union, Comrade Olorunda Oluwafemi, said Ademola was shot on the June 27, 2022 in front of his parents’ house.
Oluwafemi said the deceased was treated for the gunshot injuries for ten days before he was taken to the Federal Medical Center, Owo, where he died on Thursday.
He said students would protest from the school gate to the Palace of Olowo of Owo before taking the protest to Amotekun’s office in Akure, the state capital.
Commander of the Ondo Amotekun and Special Adviser on Security Matter to Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, Adetunji Adeleye, said the suspect was shot during an investigation into a syndicate that specialise in attacking commercial motorcyclists, popularly called okada riders with dangerous weapons and dispossess them of their motorcycles in the process.
Adeleye said an Amotekun operative was also mistakenly shot.
According to him, “Luck however ran out of one of the syndicates who was given a hot chase into a building in Owo by men of the Amotekun Corps where other members of the gang were met. There were 15 men in the building. Seven out of the men were naked inside the room filled with smoke.
”The men struggled to disarm the operative whose alarm attracted the other two outside.
”They(suspects) swung on men of the Corps, trying to disarm them and in the course of the struggle, one of their riffles triggered off and hit one of the suspects and an Amotekun officer. At that instance, one of them told Amotekun officers that they were students.”
He said his men overpowered the suspects, arrested and took them to the Corps Office in Owo where they were detained while the investigation continued
”The suspect left our facility to get first aid treatment with the promise to return in a continuation of the investigation.
“Surprisingly, the news of the death of the injured suspect filtered yesterday; 11 days after the incident occurred.”