News
OAU students protest death of colleague, demand justice
By Jeleel Olawale
The students of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife on Wednesday trooped out en masse to protest against the death of a 500 level student, Okoli Chizoputam, who was beaten to death by a mob, who were also students of the institution over alleged cell phone theft at the Awolowo Hall of the institution.
The protesting students came out in the early hour on Wednesday blocking main entrance of the university causing traffic greadlock in the university. Many people abandoned their vehicles and trecked to the university.
The president of the Students’ Union, Olayiwole Folahan Festus, said they came out to protest against the barbaric act of jungle justice resorted to by some students on campus leading to the death of one them. He urged the university authority to bring the perpetrators to book to serve as deterrent to others.
The deceased was from the department of Civil Engineering of the institution who was accused of phone theft by some students, who descended on him and allegedly beat him to death.
Reacting, the Public Relation Office of the University, Mr Abiodun Olarewaju said the protest is not against the university administration but to mourn one of their colleagues who was beaten to death on Tuesday. It is a peaceful protest and normalcy has since returned to the university.
“You cannot determine human behaviour at any point in time, but what you need to do is to let everybody know the consequences of their action. Whoever commits adultery will have to face the consequence. You cannot stop people from committing it. You can’t stop anybody from undertaking action.
“The university has its law in place against any action taken by students. We have our law in place and we have done the needful. You do not curb an action that has consequences. The only thing you can do is to call attention of anybody that commits such atrocity to face the music and the consequences of the action,” he said.
NewsDirect reports that a 500 level student of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Okoli Chizoputam, was killed by a mob who were also students of the institution over alleged phone theft.
The Students’ Union has described the mob action as inhumane with a pledge to ensure justice is meted out accordingly.
The Federal Capital Territory Emergency Management Department (FEMD), has warned of an imminent flood disaster in Jahi and Gishiri Districts, Abuja, due to building on waterways.
The acting Director- General (D-G) of FEMD, Mrs Florence Wenegieme, gave the warning in Abuja on Friday, after a risk assessment exercise in the areas by the department.
Wenegieme said that the assessment has revealed that residents have built houses on waterways and flood plains, while drainages were blocked in Jahi and Gishiri.
This, according to her, can lead to flooding, which she described as a disaster waiting to happen.
Wenegieme said, “Most of the waterways have been obstructed. Residents have built houses on water ways; they have encroached the streams; they have encroached into rivers.
“As you can see, the natural water course has been blocked, even the green areas have been overtaken by illegal buildings.”
She explained that the risk assessment exercise was to enable FEMD to develop strategic mitigating measures against flooding and other disasters and effectively respond to emergencies.
She said that FEMD would write to the Department of Development Control to visit the areas to ensure all developments in the areas were authorised and in conformity with the Abuja Master Plan.
The acting D-G called on FCT residents to desist from building on waterways and sought the cooperation of the residents in the protection of lives and properties following increased volume of rainfall.
In a related development, FEMD has trained 50 staff and volunteers on disaster response in line with global best practices.
Wenegieme said that the simulation training, which began on Thursday, was tagged, “Disaster Response Simulation Exercise.”
She said that the training focused on water safety, water rescue, building collapse, and fire outbreaks.
She said that the simulation exercise was organized to enhance the capacity of the staff and volunteers.
“This simulation exercise and drills are to build our capacity in terms of rescue operations of any kind while paramedics were trained on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation”.
“The training exercise is aimed at equipping the staff and volunteers of the department with the needed skills and expertise to help them discharge their duties in line with global best practices,” she said.
She explained that the volunteer local divers were selected from the six area councils of the FCT.
This, she said, would better equip them with modern and improved methods of rescue operations.
“We have local divers from the six Area Councils, as such, we need to polish their swimming skills, teach them the modern way of carrying out rescue operations during flooding,” she said.
Wenegieme thanked the FCT Minister, Mr Nyesom Wike and the FCT Minister of State, Dr Mariya Mahmoud for the unflinching support to FEMD.
The Facilitator, Mr Joe Oduah, Chief Executive Officer, RCL Industrial Safety Centre, said that building the capacity of FEMD staff and volunteers would significantly improve disaster response and save lives and properties.
Gov. Bassey Otu of Cross River, has approved the immediate dissolution of the leadership of the state Council of Chiefs
Prof. Anthony Owan-Enoh, the Secretary to the State Government, announced this in a statement in Calabar on Friday.
Owan-Enoh said that the governor’s action was in line with Section 4(1) of the Cross River Council of Chiefs Law, 2004.
“The governor appreciates the chairman and members of the dissolved council for their meritorious service to the state.
“He wishes them the best in their roles as traditional rulers in their respective domains,” the statement read in parts.
The State House of Assembly recently passed a resolution for the change of the leadership of the council on the ground that it had overstayed its term in office.
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