Labour wants UNIPORT VC suspended over student’s death

 

By Victor Ahiuma-Young & Jimitota Onoyume 


ORGANISED labour, yesterday, called on the Federal Government to immediately suspend the Vice Chancellor of University of Port Harcourt, UNIPORT, and set up a presidential panel of enquiry to unravel the remote causes of Monday’s killing of a student during a protest by students of the university. Speaking through the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, labour equally demanded that the police officers involved in the killings be identified and brought to justice to serve as a deterrent to others who might be contemplating such actions in the future NLC, in a statement by the Joe Ajaero-led faction, expressed shock that a Vice Chancellor of a university in a democracy could deploy the services of Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, to control innocent protesting students over the hike in school fees. He said: “The Federal Government should set up a visitation panel to all the universities to look at the infrastructural situation in order to find lasting solutions and halt the decay. The Federal Government should restore its control of the commanding heights of the economy which it abandoned through the privatisation processes as provided in the constitution of Nigeria. “The Federal Government should review its policies to make it more inclusive in favour of the masses as it seems to have abdicated its responsibilities in recent times. The Federal Government should also ban the use of the Army, SARS and the use of live ammunition in handling public protests and rallies in Nigeria.” Similarly, Rivers State council of the NLC and the conveners of Occupy Nigeria have called on the Federal Government to conduct an independent investigation into the killing of a student of the University of Port Harcourt, Mr Peter Ofurum, during Monday’s protest by students of the university against the hike in fees by management of the institution. Chairman of NLC in the state, Ada Williams and the convener , Occupy Nigeria, Mr. Livingston Wechie, who briefed newsmen, said an independent inquiry into the incident was necessary since the Police was already being accused of firing the shot that killed the innocent student.