The students of Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, Ondo State on Friday staged a protest following the death of one of their colleagues whom they alleged to have been killed by the men of the state Security Network Agency, also known as Amotekun.
According to the protesters, the deceased was Folarera Ademola, an ND1 student of Science Laboratory Technology at the institution.
Speaking on the development, the Students’ Union President, Olorunda Oluwafemi, stated that the deceased was shot on June 27, 2022, by an Amotekun operative in front of his parent’s house.
Oluwafemi said, “The deceased suffered the gunshot wounds for 10 days before being taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Owo, where he gave up the ghost yesterday (Thursday).”
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The angry students, who started the protest in front of the school gate, moved to the Palace of Olowo of Owo before taking the corpse of the deceased to the Governor’s Office in Akure, chanting various solidarity songs.
They also placed the coffin at the entrance of the Governor’s Office. The students also gave the state government a 24-hour ultimatum to hand over the Amotekun officer who allegedly shot the deceased to the police force for proper action, take charge of the deceased’s burial, and compensate the family.
However, the Amotekun Corps in a statement said the deceased was hit by the bullets when he was struggling to disarm an officer of the Corps during an operation.
The statement issued by the state commander of the Amotekun, Akogun Adetunji Adeleye said, “In its avowed determination to ensure that Ondo State is rid of criminal elements, the state Amotekun Corps is investigating the case of a syndicate that specialises in attacking Okada riders with dangerous weapons and dispossess them of their motorcycles in the process.
“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 stacked naked inside the room filled with smoke.
“After introducing themselves to the men, the men struggled to disarm the operatives whose alarm attracted the other two outside. In an attempt to apprehend the suspect, they 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, none of them told Amotekun officers that they were students. The incident occurred on the 27th and 28th of June, 2022.
Adeleye added that his “men eventually overpowered the suspects, arrested and took them to the Corps’ office in Owo where they were detained while the investigation continued.
“The suspect (deceased) left our facility on the same day, 11 days after the incident to get first aid treatment with the promise to return in continuation of the investigation.
“Surprisingly, the news of the dead injured suspect filtered yesterday (Thursday) after 11 days the incident occurred.”
