As below, A Guest Writer, Essienobong Etuk, tables the incidence, and issues behind the University of Uyo riot and killings.
THE AIR AROUND JUNE 12, 2013 AT UNIUYO: THE ENGINEERING PERCEPTION.
INTRODUCTION
June 12, 2013 was tagged a black Wednesday at the University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State Nigeria, after a reaction-turned-protest over some misunderstandings in the Varsity which turned to a riot that claimed the offices of the Vice-Chancellor and the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and also the Record’s Unit of the University following the death of a student during the protest and subsequent indefinite shut down of the school.
Appropriate authorities have undertaken investigations into the cause of the misfortune. Blames, attacks, counter attacks and arrests have been made on this matter. The mass media are not left out in telling their stories, both true and false. We cannot blame the media though, for no one, neither the Student Union Government, nor the University Management has been able to go on air to brief the public on the cause of the incident.
However, this piece became necessary and pertinent after it has been observed that the mass media have given the general public the notion that the Faculty of Engineering students were behind the misfortune that caught up with the entire University Community. Therefore the purpose of this piece is to enlighten the public and the media on the truth around the incident as known and discovered by the Faculty of Engineering.
The use of the word “Faculty” in this piece will connote the Faculty of Engineering Students except otherwise stated.
A BRIEF BACKGROUND OF THE FACULTY
The Faculty of Engineering was established in 1995/1996 Academic Session by Vice Chancellor Prof Fola Lasisi. The Faculty had her humble beginning with sixty three (63) students and eight (8) departments.
There were no classrooms and containers were improvised to serve as temporary administrative building. In around 2005 the Faculty was moved to the University’s Permanent Site as the pioneer inhabitants of the campus. The Faculty ever since has been blooming in achievements and splendour even under several challenges they endured of which Transportation to and fro the Town Campus was one of the major challenges.
Year one and two students of the faculty of Engineering, some students from Faculty of Agriculture and still have some courses at the Science faculty at Town campus and other courses at permanent site and thus the need for the to and fro movement between the two campuses separated kilometres apart.
The University at a point was blessed with the Federal Government Special Intervention Program which also provided buses for the University among other fortunes. Also at their aid on transportation was the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) who provided the school with a high capacity bus. These buses since its introduction has been shuttling free of charge between the campuses carrying the students and staffs of the University between the campuses.
The Faculty of Engineering has undoubtedly been a blessing to the University as partnerships, sponsorships and donations have been to the University through her.
As at the time of relocation, there was no electricity, no good water, no good roads and insufficient lecture classrooms. The faculty lived in isolation at permanent site campus, was surrounded by bushes as the neighbors and dangerous animals as the friends and visitors. Yet, through all these they endured in peace, love and unity of purpose having in mind that the end justifies the means.
Today the students live to enjoy those basic amenities their predecessors lacked. Ladies go about their night readings in classrooms without fear of molestation or harassment, student trek into the campus at night without fear of extortion from cultist and so on. Because of the serenity, maturity and good conduct maintained in the permanent site campus, the University Management favorites the use of permanent site for official functions and meetings.
It is therefore an understatement that the Faculty of Engineering with the help of the school security and the Almighty GOD has made the permanent site campus the most peaceful campus in the University.
THE PRE-RIOT
The University Management in her right and commendable effort to move the University to her permanent site planned the relocation of the Faculty of Science down to permanent site in 2013. This the Faculty of Engineering saw as a very welcome development as it will help solve their loneliness problem. This was evidenced in the Faculty’s planning of a grand reception for the sister Science Faculty to their new campus.
However, even before the Faculty of Science could arrive at the permanent site, rumour had carried over the University Town Campus that the Faculty of Engineering students are robbing the innocent Science Students at gun point in their lecture halls in broad daylight. This did not only tarnish our image as the most peaceful campus in the University, but also went on in implying that the University security team at permanent site are incompetent.
Investigations into this matter yielded no result as there was no evidence to justify the rumour. This made the faculty to start believing it was a political propaganda aimed at causing hatred on whoever the faculty produces as the SUG Presidential candidate in the hopefully upcoming elections. But further investigations revealed that the Faculty of Science students could not withstand the normal chaos and struggle to jump into the limited space school buses and therefore some of the students under frustration resorted to enriching their prepositions with some coined stories to demand for extra buses from the management.
Immediately following these was a rumour that the management is planning the stoppage of school bus services from coming to permanent site. This rumour became stronger when it was said that notices have been pasted at male and female hostels at Town and Annex Campuses and signed by the SUG Director of Transport that buses will be made available to the students for a token, token not valued on the notice. This notice as rumoured never made it clear if the school buses will still be in service or not.
However, it is worthy of note that the affected Faculties (Science and Engineering) did not receive any notice as such despite the fact that the said Director of Transport is a student of the affected Faculty of Engineering.
A week to the riot, the Faculty of Engineering president (at Permanent site) elect in company of his delegates was invited for a meeting with the SUG (at Town Campus) but he could not attend as the invitation was too urgent- some 10 minutes to the meeting. One however wonders why this invitation had to be so sudden.
It was later learnt that the SUG had a meeting with Faculty Presidents over some issues among which the transportation issue was discussed. However, the Presidents of the affected faculties (Science and Engineering) were absent from the meeting. It was learnt that decisions on these faculties’ affairs were discussed and taken in their absence.
THE RIOT
On the 12th Day of June 2013, the atmosphere was as calm as ever in permanent site. It was hardly noticed that the school bus had not come for that day as the campus was filled as usual. Lectures were on going and life was normal.
Just like a wave, information swept in everywhere that Town Campus’ main gate has been blocked by students over the absence of school buses to convey them to permanent site. Immediately the Faculty of Engineering President-elect rushed down to Town Campus to speak to the students.
On reaching there he met with very strange faces and large crowd. On noticing that these are not engineering students he now asked what the protest was about. It was there that he discovered the protest was multifaceted.
Some say it was about the extra charges on GST registration after paying for GST on their fees, some say late registration on school fees payment, some say extra payment for school library services after paying for library in the school fees, some say they pay for workshop when they are not using it, some say they do not want the imposition of charges on the bus services and many more facts.
Different great officials and personalities were seen at the scene which was enough to calm the situation as experienced leaders. These student bodies and leaders addressed and calm down these peaceful students and succeeded in removing the barricades that were used to block the main gate and the students started disembarking hoping that a management staff would come and address them to restore their already lost hope.
The Dean of Student Affairs, Prof. Eno Ibanga who was seen seated at the main gate. After so many pleas by student leaders, the Dean of Students declined addressing the hopeless students on the grounds that he was not the management. The Chief Security Officer then led a team of senior Police Officers including DPO ‘A’ Division, Mr. Moses Ali, to the DVC (Admin) and DVC (Academic) to persuade them to come out and address the students. The two professors bluffed the security experts.
The DVC (Admin) was overheard saying that the students cannot do anything and that any attempt to riot, he would close down the Faculties of Engineering and Sciences. This further angered the students. At this point many officers of the different Faculties walked out of the scenario. One could wonder if this remark was truly coming from an experienced administrator.
The hopeless students gave up the struggle and while many went back home, many others waited to see what the outcome will be while some went outside to block roads. The police arrived soon after and there was great relief for the security agencies at school as the police were expected to manage the crowd within permissible limits.
However, the police stood outside the school, on the streets of Ikpa road and Ikot Ekpene road, surrounded the campus and started shooting tear gas canisters into the campus. One wonders what they were trying to achieve. Students had to start rushing out from their different locations to the nearest exits. Unfortunately again, the police started shooting canisters into these exits.
The main gate, the small gates and the first gate were all covered with tear gas. Students could not escape anymore. Lecturers were locked in too. These weird acts irritated the students therefore causing some to boldly pick up the canisters and threw back at the police. This became a serious drama and the police increased the number of canisters shot into the campuses.
The girls’ hostels were not left out in the shooting causing many cases of suffocation and respiratory complexities. One again wonders if this was a wise way to evacuate the campuses: locking in the students even when there was no violence during the demonstrations.
The drama became tragedy when students were seen rushing an injured student to the University Clinic and out again with blood and tears.
The atmosphere became tensed and police started coming in. As the campus became a no go area, information were only circulated on social media and also on radio. It was immediately posted on Facebook that the injured student has given up the ghost. It was later on the radio that it was learnt that buildings have been set ablaze at the University campus.
This happened despite the fact that the Police had taken full possession of the compound. What killed the student and who burnt the buildings remain questions the Police should be asked.
It is worthy of note that the Permanent Site Campus of the University which houses the Engineering students experienced no chaos on that day and therefore maintaining her integrity as the most peaceful campus in the University.
Meanwhile, academic activities in the campus were not affected by the protest and the bulk of engineering students were in classrooms, attending their lectures. This renders the notion of a 'riot by engineering students' null and void.
How could it have been a riot by engineering students when the bulk of our students were actively engaged in their academics during the period of the riot and was not led by any principal officer of our association?
Does it make any form of sense that engineering students, who by the way are cultured ladies and gentlemen, would suddenly abandon the tenets of the engineering profession and become a band of looters and arsonists?
It is therefore clear that all attempts to refer to the June 12 riot as a riot led by engineering students are not only faulty, but completely wrong and malicious.
For so long the general welfare of engineering students both at home and in diaspora has been put on the back burner and as such, unlike our counterparts in law and medicine, we are not part of the state government's grant programme for professional courses..
We believe these are unfair and should be rectified. A skilled pool of well educated engineers is almost always one of the differences between the developed and undeveloped nations of the world.
POST RIOT
It was on the news the next morning that the Faculty of Engineering of University of Uyo started a protest that claimed some lives and properties of the University. In as much as this sounds unreasonable and political, we deemed it fit to tell the story above to let the public see what happened. Now questions need to be asked once again:
• Was the Faculty of Engineering the payers of extra N2000 GST fees?
• Was the Faculty the singular users of the school bus?
• Was the Faculty responsible for the inability of appropriate authorities to address the students?
• Are some student politicians taking advantage of the situation to tarnish the image of the Faculty?
• Who told the newspapers that the protest happened over an increment from N100 to N200 when in fact in the transport issue was an introduction of a fare on the otherwise free system?
THE WAY AHEAD
Harm has been done and lessons have been learnt. Though the faults might be rejected but deep in the hearts the truth is known. It is advisable that lessons learnt be of use to the students, officers of the Union, Management and staff of the University in other to forestall future occurrences.
For the arrested innocent students, espirit de coup, an injury to you is an injury to us. The Faculty of Engineering will be there at all times for you spiritually and physically throughout these trying times. We call for all the charges against the 44 students, whom the police randomly arrested without any justifiable cause, to be dropped.
The Faculty is working too hard to bring a candidate for test and acceptance by the Nigerian Students who will ensure that June 12 will be written into law as a general Solemn Assembly for the students of the University in memory of the sad events that occurred.
With the help of the Management of the University, a Peace Park shall be established at the Permanent Site with a symbolic anti-riot sculpture. The fallen hero(s) shall be remembered on this day. We know that with your supports and prayers, hope shall be restored in the Tuskers Republic.
May the soul, whose dreams have been ended prematurely by the illiterate guns of the Nigerian Police Force, Rest in Peace.
May GOD bless Tuskers Republic!
May GOD bless the University of Uyo!
The Struggle Never Ends! Victory is Certain.
Publication written by: Essienobong Etuk
[email protected]
