Tension in LAUTECH as police officer ‘kills’ student

There was tension at the Ladoke Akintola University Of Technology (LAUTECH) in Ogbomoso, Oyo, on Monday, after a police officer allegedly gunned down a student.

In now-viral videos, some students called out a police officer for allegedly firing shots at some of their colleagues who were celebrating their graduation ahead of the school’s convocation ceremony.

The deceased student was said to have been caught up in a physical altercation that occurred at a nightclub in Ogbomoso.

The student was said to have been shot after the club owner had invited the police — when the fight escalated — to put the situation under control.

The officer was alleged to have fired sporadically into the air and in the process, shot the student dead and injured two others.

The incident caused tension among some students who staged a brief protest but shelved the protest due to the ongoing convocation activities at LAUTECH.

The protesters also demanded a probe into the alleged killing of the student.

@PoliceNG what is the issue with your conflict resolution mechanism, your officer killed a student, instead of finding a way to resolve the issues, your men resolved to another round of sporadic shootings. During robberies you are mute, with students you unleash hell ? #lautech pic.twitter.com/EHA3OdS3Pw

— Abiodun Oluwaseun Laurel (@pres_laurel) April 23, 2024

Speaking with TheCable Lifestyle on Wednesday, Adewale Osifeso, the Oyo state police spokesperson, confirmed that an investigation has commenced into the incident.

“Investigation is in progress. Updates would be communicated accordingly, please,” he said.

On his part, Lekan Fadeyi, the LAUTECH spokesperson, argued that the deceased was not a student of the institution, adding that he “came from Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo”.

“If a student had been killed would it have been possible to have our convocation? No killing took place on campus. The guy that was allegedly shot and killed was not our student,” he said.

“When we heard about it, we sent the dean of student affairs to go with those arrested to Ibadan. The report we heard at the end of the day was that the student came from Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo. They went to a nightclub for private reasons best known to them.

“Our school is a non-residential university and there was no way we could have kept students until 2 am. They went to the nightclub to drink and one of them paid over N300,000.

“If anybody says the guy that died was our student, let the person provide the name and matric number of the person.

“They did not protest on campus. They only protested on the street.”

The state government also reaffirmed its commitment to ensure the safety and security of students.

On Tuesday, Salihu Adelabu, the education commissioner, who represented Seyi Makinde, the Oyo governor at the convocation, said it was important for the state to investigate the alleged murder.