Students, police clash in College of Education

Some students of Michael Otedola College of Primary Education, on Monday, during a protest in the school, sustained various gunshot wounds from police officers in the Epe area of Lagos.
One of the residents of the area, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the entire Noforija community was thrown into disarray following the incident.
The pandemonium started when the school management restrained some students from writing their exam due to non-payment of their school fees.
The school authority had earlier issued a directive that the students should complete payment of their fees in order to be eligible to sit for the first semester examinations which started yesterday.
Some students, however, complied with the directive while others did not. The reaction the school authorities barred erring students from writing the examinations, a move which the students revolted against. The affected students protested the development, disturbing the examination and causing the eligible students to abandon their examination halls.
The school Provost ordered the eligible students back to the examination halls to finish their papers, assuring them of security. The provost then called the Police, and officers were deployed to the school and they arrested some of the protesting students.
In retaliation, the students attacked the armed Police officers, which led to further fracas between both parties.
The police officers allegedly fired some shots in the air and some of the students were hit by stray bullets.
Some of the police officers were also alleged to have sustained injuries while a student whose identity is yet to be ascertained was shot in the lower part of his abdomen by one of the police officers.
A student of Computer studies who requested anonymity said the sum of N50,000 being charged as school fees in her department could not be afforded by many.
“We have pleaded with the school authority to give room for instalmental payment, which they did not consent to. Rather than settling the issue amicably, the school authority hindered many from writing the examinations and this fuelled yesterday’s crisis,” the student said.
The number of injured students could not be ascertained and the school authority is yet to issue an official statement on the incident.