Soldiers on Friday, invaded the main gate of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) in Ugbowo where they unleashed mayhem on whoever was in sight and destroyed virtually every vehicle parked within the vicinity.
At the end of the attack, no fewer than six people sustained various degrees of injuries and more than 20 vehicles destroyed, Punch reported.
The invasion of the campus was a result of an incident that reportedly happened earlier in the day where some students had an altercation with soldiers who were alleged to have jumped the queue while waiting to withdraw money from an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) inside the campus.
It was gathered that the soldiers beat up a female student who they accused of recording the scene and also descended on two security personnel that tried to bring the situation under control and in anger, the students pounced on one the soldiers as was seen in a short video that went viral.
The management of the school called for calm and assured that the issue was being resolved but the soldiers were said to have invaded the main gate scaling the fence of the University and allegedly destroyed the CCTV at the security post. Among the vehicles destroyed were the security vehicle and a fire fighting truck.
One of the victims who gave her name simply as Gloria said “I sent my sister to the ATM and she later called me that there was fighting inside the campus involving soldiers but later I could not reach her again, her line was not going again. So in panic I went into the campus from Ekosodin and by the time we finished, they had locked the gates, there was crowd and we were looking for cab to get back home. I was enquiring from a security man how we could get out of the campus through the back gate and shortly after that we saw soldiers jumping into the compound they carried cutlass, jack knife, sticks and other things and started beating everybody they met. We were running and all the money we withdrew from the ATM and our phones were taken away because we have to run for our dear lives. Some of them were wearing hoods, some were females.”
When contacted, the Public Relations s Officer of the 4 Brigade Nigerian Army Captain Yemi Sokoya denied the attack by soldiers and simply said “It is not true. Thank you”
A statement by the Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Lilian Salami “The unfortunate incident of the clash between some students of our university and soldiers on Thursday 2nd February, resulting from alleged resistance of students to the soldiers’ attempt to jump ATM queues on campus has been brought under control and the Management of the University is in discussions with the hierarchy of the S & T for amicable resolution.
“The Management acknowledges that these are challenging times for everyone and enjoins all to remain calm while efforts are being made to avert a re- occurrence. Management also calls on the students to constantly engage in dialogue in resolving issues that concern them rather than taking to protests, at any provocation, thereby causing more injury and damage to themselves and other citizens.”
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