Several people were left wounded in the wake of a brawl between students of the Rivers State Polytechnic, Bori in Khana Local Government Area of the state and the security personnel attached to institution.
Nigerian Tribune learnt that trouble started on Wednesday afternoon, when the security personnel, in response to a report, stormed the venue of an election being conducted by members of the National Association of Akwa Ibom State Students, Rivers Polytechnic chapter.
According to the information, while the election to elect new executive was on, a student, simply identified as Effiong, was accosted by some members of the school security team.
The student was accosted due to a yet-to-be disclosed offence by the Chief Security Officer of the institution, who was said to have been attracted to the scene, due to uncooperative attitude of the student.
Nigerian Tribune gathered that some policemen came into the scene and reportedly beat Effiong blue-black, before whisking him away in a van.
Later in the day, there was a rumour that the student was dead and some of his colleagues, on Thursday morning, demanded to see their colleague and the Chief Security Officer was said to have assured them of his safety.
While assuring that their colleague would soon be back on the campus, the situation became rowdy and uncontrollable when one of the institution’s security team pointed in the direction of a student, an action that ignited the anger of the students who descended on the chief security officer.
The situation got out of hand as some people seized the opportunity to loot the institution’s property, computer at the Information Communication Technology (ICT) centre, while the offices of the Rector and the Bursar were torched, with valuable property stolen.
A team of policemen from the Bori Area Command and some operatives of the Joint Task Force (JTF) moved into the campus to quell the riot while students took to their heels.
Confirming the incident, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Dan Bature, said some students of the Rivers State Polytechnic had an altercation with their chief security officer over their colleagues that were detained.
“As soon as I received the information, I ordered that the students should be released. There is no report of death or casualty in the polytechnic. There is calm now because our men are there to ensure that there is no breakdown of law and order,” Bature said.
Meanwhile, it was gathered that the school authority had ordered the students to immediately vacate the hostels and stay off the campus, until further notice.
Source: Tribune