"In fact, some of the officers had to break into a room in our compound just to chase us away from the school environment, claiming that school management had told us t leave. As I am speak with you, they have already arrested some and forced them to lie down on the bare ground inside this hot sun. They are beating people like stubborn animals."
Armed policemen have stormed the Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba Akoko (AAUA), Ondo State, chasing the students away from the campus with tear gas and "beating them like stubborn animals".
SaharaReporters learnt that the policemen arrived at the institution "in full force", breaking into off-campus hostels to carry out "indiscriminate arrests" of students.
Many of the students left in their rooms have been crying out on the invasion of their hostels by the Ploice, describing it as "anti-students".
SaharaReporters observed that the police stationed some vehicles, including an armoured tank, in front of the institution's gates to scare all students away from entering the main campus.
The police's action followed a heavy protest by the students of the state-owned institution on Wednesday over the 'no school fee, no test' policy of the university management led by Professor Igbekele Ajibefun, the Vice Chancellor.
Two hundred level students had protested on Wednesday, shuttind down activities at the campus over the management's refusal to allow them write their First Semester Continuous Assesment Test.
Biola Ajimuda, a student of the institution, said the policemen armed with guns were breaking into private hostels outside the school to chase the students away.
"The police and some other uniformed officers arrived at the school today and mounted surveillance positionsat the gate while preventing students from entering the campus," she said.
"They also drove to private off-campus hostels to chase us away with guns; they tear-gassed many of us they met in our compounds and slapped anyone who refused to leave the room.
"In fact, some of the officers had to break into a room in our compound just to chase us away from the school environment, claiming that school management had told us t leave. As I am speak with you, they have already arrested some and forced them to lie down on the bare ground inside this hot sun. They are beating people like stubborn animals."
On Thursday, the Dean of Students Affairs (DSA) of the institution, Dr. Olusegun Owolewa, had asked the students to leave and vacate all the campuses immediately.
A terse memo from Owolewa to the students, obtained by SaharaReporters, reads: "My counsel to you AAUA students, please, do not converge on the road or campus tomorrow. It is dangerous.
"Avoid confrontation with Police or the Army. Your life is important to me; go home straight and prepare for the exams ahead. I look forward to seeing you on campus by May, 20. May God be with you, till we meet again."
