Two die, UNIPORT shut as students protest fee payment

Two students of the University of Port Harcourt were feared killed during a protest over an alleged policy by the management of the institution that school fees must be paid before they would be allowed to take their first semester examinations.

One of the students identified as Peter Ofurun, who was said to have been hit by a bullet from a policeman, died instantly.

Another student also hit by a bullet was rushed to the hospital, even as sources claimed that she died on the way to the hospital.

The UNIPORT students’ protest had halted academic and administrative activities in the institution as they demanded that the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Sunday Lale, should address them and reverse the policy

Ofurun was a student in the Faculty of Management Science before he met his untimely death. His corpse was later taken to the African Independent Television station in Port Harcourt.

Sources told our correspondents that the two students were hit by the bullets when policemen opened fire to disperse the protesting students from the busy East-West road they had occupied for hours.

However, the state Police Public Officer, Mr. Ahmad Muhammad, told one of our correspondents that no life was lost during the protest.

“No reported case of loss of life throughout the students’ protest. What the police did was just the discharge of their mandate of restoring normalcy and orderliness in the university,” Muhammad said.

The students’ presence on the East-West Road had caused a gridlock as travellers waited in vain for the students to disperse for them to continue with their journey.

An armoured personnel carrier that was moving close to the institution to ensure that calm returned was also trapped in the traffic.

 It was gathered that the students had come out from their hostels at about 4.30am to express their grievances over the stance of the UNIPORT management to stop them from taking their first semester examinations because of non-payment of the fees.