Aggrieved youths and students of Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, Ondo State, on Friday protested the death of Folarera Ademola, an ND1 student of Science Laboratory Technology of the institution, allegedly killed by the men of the state Security Network Agency, code-named “Amotekun.”
The aggrieved youths blocked all the link roads around the secretariat’s main gate, thereby disrupting human and vehicular movements.
Speaking on the development, the Students’ Union President, Olorunda Oluwafemi, stated that the deceased was shot on June 27, 2022, by an Amotekun operative in front of his parents’ house.
Oluwafemi said, “The deceased suffered a gunshot wound for 10 days before being taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Owo, where he gave up the ghost yesterday (Thursday).”
By the death of their colleague, the angry students placed the coffin of the deceased at the entrance of the Governor’s Office in Akure, chanting solidarity songs. The students, however, gave the state government 24 hours to hand over the Amotekun officer who allegedly shot the deceased to the police for proper sanction, take charge of the deceased’s burial, and compensate the family.
Earlier, the students had staged a protest in front of the school gate before they moved to the Palace of Olowo of Owo to demand justice.
While responding, the Amotekun Corps, in a statement, said the deceased was hit by bullets when he was struggling to disarm an officer of the Corps during an operation.
The statement issued by the state commander of Amotekun, Akogun Adetunji Adeleye, reads, “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 specialises in attacking Okada riders with dangerous weapons and dispossessing them of their motorcycles. Luck, however, ran out for 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. There were 15 men in the building, seven of whom were stacked naked inside the room filled with smoke.
After introducing themselves to the men, the men struggled to disarm the operatives whose 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 rifles triggered off and hit one of the suspects. None of them told officers that they were students. The incident occurred on the 27th and 28th of June, 2022.”
Adeleye added that his “men eventually overpowered the suspects, arrested them and took them to the Corps’ office in Owo, where they were detained while the investigation continued.
The suspect (deceased) left our facility on the same day, 11 days after the incident, to get first aid treatment with the promise to return for a continuation of the investigation. “Surprisingly, the news of the suspect’s death filtered through yesterday.”
