A team of anti-riot police brutally attacked a peaceful protest by
students of Nigerian polytechnics in Lagos earlier today. The police
tear-gassed and assaulted the protesters, and arrested more than 100
students and reporters, including Segun Olawoye, a citizen reporter
affiliated with SaharaTV.
The arrested students accused the police of also using tear gas on
them after they were herded into prison vehicles known as Black Maria.
The protesting polytechnic students said they wanted to draw
attention to their plight as they have been out of school for close to
nine months owing to a general strike by their lecturers. The protesters
accused the Goodluck Jonathan administration of triggering the strike
by refusing to honor a 2009 agreement with polytechnic teachers across
Nigeria.
Our sources said trouble started as soon as the protesters moved from
Yaba College of Technology in the Yaba area of Lagos towards Lagos
Island. “We were attacked by policemen around Adekunle bus stop area,”
said one source. “The policemen viciously beat up many students after
firing into the air and bombarding us with teargas.” See more pictures after the cut...
The police then rounded up numerous injured and gasping protesters
and threw them into waiting prison vans where they were stung with more
tear gas fumes. Mr. Olawoye, who was covering the protest for
SaharaReporters, had his cameras seized and smashed by the rampaging
policemen.
SaharaReporters contacted police spokesman, Frank Mba, regarding the
repressive action of the police towards peaceful protesters. Mr. Mba
said he could not ascertain which unit of the police carried out the
attack, stating that he was traveling to Abuja by road.
Just before going to press, SaharaReporters learned that the police
had released more than 100 students who were initially detained inside
crowded Black Maria vehicles parked at the entrance to the Third
Mainland bridge via Adekunle area in Yaba, Lagos.
Two of the released protesters told SaharaReporters that they almost
suffocated from the heat inside the vehicles compounded by teargas
fumes.
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