Ondo Poly students protest alleged killing of colleague by Amotekun

Hundreds of students of the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, Ondo state on Friday, protested over the killing of one of their colleagues, Folarera Ademola, who was allegedly shot dead by men of the State Security Network Agency known as Amotekun.

The students alleged that the National Diploma student of Science Laboratory Technology was shot some 11 days ago in his parents’ house in Owo, before giving up last night.

The angry students who converged on the main entrance of the school, blocked the road to express their displeasure over the development, causing a traffic jam on the busy road.

Speaking on the development, the Students’ Union President, Olorunda Oluwafemi, confirmed that the boy was shot on the 27th of June by an officer of the Amotekun in front of his parent’s house.

Oluwafemi added that the deceased suffered the gunshot wounds for 10 days before being taken to the Federal Medical Center, Owo, where he gave up the ghost yesterday.

The students took the corpse of the young man to the palace of Olowo of Owo before heading to the Governor’s office in Akure, to register their displeasure over the killing.

They, however, issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the Amotekun Commander to hand over the officer to the Nigerian police force for proper action, take charge of the deceased’s burial, and compensate the family.

But the Amotekun Commander, Chief Adetunji Adeleye, in a statement explained that the ugly incident happened while the deceased and his group disarmed men of the Amotekun while they were chasing suspected criminals.

According to Adeleye, “It is necessary for the Corps to explain to the public what transpired a few days ago that led to the unfortunate death of the student.

“In its avowed determination to ensure that Ondo State is rid of criminal elements, the state Amotekun Corps is investigating the case of a syndicate that specializes in attacking Okada riders with dangerous weapons and dispossessing them of their motorcycles in the process.

“Luck however ran out of one of the syndicates who was given a hot chase into a building in Owo by men of the Amotekun Corps where other members of the gang were met 15 men in the building, 7 out of the men stacked naked inside the room filled with smoke. And four Okada’s were also found inside the bedroom.

“After introducing themselves to the men, the men struggled to disarm the operative who alarm attracted the other two outside.

“In an attempt to apprehend the suspect, they swung on men of the corps, trying to disarm them and in the course of the struggle, one of their riffles triggered off and hit one of the suspects and an Amotekun officer”

He explained that it was after the incident that one of them told the Amotekun officers that they were students after his men eventually overpowered the suspects, arrested and took them to the Corps Office in Owo.

He disclosed that the incident occurred on 27th 2022 but said the deceased was released on health grounds, promising to return to the corps custody so as to continue the investigation.

He said: “The suspect left our facility on the same day, 11 days after the incident to get first aid treatment with the promise to return in a continuation of the investigation. Surprisingly, the news of the dead and injured suspect’s filtered yesterday after 11 days the incident occurred.

“We sincerely register our condolences to the family and friends of the deceased while we continue with our in-depth and thorough investigation into the real cause of his death.

“The Ondo State Amotekun Corps, however, wishes to assure the public that it will work with stakeholders including NANS, the Polytechnic Community and the family of the victim to ensure that justice is timely served.

“The Corps promised that it would not relent in its avowed determination to protect the residents of Ondo State in collaboration with other security agencies and sanitize the state of criminal elements terrorizing the state.” (Nigerian Tribune)