Some protesting students of the Plateau State Polytechnic, Jos campus, have been reportedly shot by soldiers drafted to disperse them.
The students, according to media reports, were on Monday allegedly shot by soldiers while they were protesting the suspension of their examination which was to commence today, Monday, September 20.
It was gathered that the students, who blocked the road early on Monday morning to demand that their examination proceeded as planned, suddenly got visited by soldiers who allegedly shot live rounds to disperse them.
Many of the students had spent the night in the school classrooms on Sunday reading for the examination only to be told that the examination would not hold.
According to Daily Trust, during the protest, many security personnel arrived and began shooting sporadically, thereby injuring many students in the process.
The newspaper says that some asthmatic students suffered attacks from the tear gas shot to disperse the students.
The newspaper says its correspondents who visited some of the injured students at the Plateau State hospital and a private hospital by the old airport junction, found some of them with bullet wounds by the side of their stomach, with one of them pierced by his forehead.
But a spokesperson of Operation Safe Haven (OPSH), Major Ishaku Takwa, said no soldier fired any bullet on the students, explaining that soldiers went to the area to dismantle the roadblock mounted by the students.
He said: “As you know, Jos has not recovered yet from the recent upheavals. We have it that whoever wants to embark on protest, the person must be cleared by the government. They haven’t done that.
“They went straight to the major road leading to the southeast and blocked. This can generate fears in the state and even to the road users.”
The Plateau State Government debunked the news making the rounds in social media about dead casualties in the shooting, saying that no casualty has been recorded, but that some students sustained injuries and have been taken to the hospital.
The government’s reaction which was contained in a statement by the Commissioner of Information and Communication, Dan Manjang, said it was when security personnel moved in to persuade the students to vacate the road and restore normalcy that a clash ensued between the students and security personnel.
“Plateau State woke up to a mild drama that saw the staging of agitation by students over the refusal to conduct examination by the academic staff as a result of a strike to drive home labour demands.
“As a result, activities at the institution were disrupted. This resulted in the blocking of the highway by students resulting in disruption of traffic along the ever-busy road.
“When security personnel moved in to persuade the students to vacate the road and restore normalcy, a clash ensued between the students and security personnel.
“Contrary to news making the rounds in the social media, no casualty has been recorded.
“However, some students sustained injuries and have been taken to the hospital and are responding to treatment,” the statement said.
The statement added that at the meeting with union leaders, it was resolved that the lecturers should allow academic activities to continue while negotiations go on between the aggrieved unions and government over the said demands.
It said the implication of this is that students will continue with their examinations according to plan, adding that while the government recognises the right of both students and staff to press home their demands, it enjoins all and sundry to do so with all civility and in accordance to the rule of law.