The Vice Chancellor of the Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin, Kwara State, Prof. Sulyman Abdulkareem, was injured on Wednesday after attempting to intervene in a scuffle between three plain-clothed security men and the students of the institution.
The VC told our correspondent that the three armed policemen had come into the school to arrest a female student without informing the institution's authorities.
He added that the students, probably thinking that the female student was to be abducted, resisted the attempt to arrest her.
Abdulkareem stated that he led a team to the scene to interve before the scuffle escalated. He added that in the process, he was injured.
He said, "What happened this morning is a case of misjudgment by an agency that is supposed to be enforcing laws. The men came to the campus and tried to arrest a female student.
"The students insisted that the lady could not be arrested in campus without the knowledge of the school authorities.
"It is very unfortunate that anybody will come to the university campus and want to make an arrest without effort to inform constituted authorities.
"Anyway if I have not gone there to address the students, only God knows what would have happened because the men were armed. We thank God that I was the only person injured.
"These people were in mufti. That is what is more disturbing. If you come in uniform and you want to effect an arrest, you still need to tell constituted authority. But to make the matter worse, when you come to the campus in plain clothes and wanted to arrest a female student, it is not something that the students will allow.
"We called police and they came. The people that came to make arrest are with the police now. Meanwhile, the student is safely in our hands."
He urged law enforcement agencies to follow due process when performing their duties to avoid misunderstanding. He added that the institution was willing any time to cooperate with security officials in the performance of their lawful duties if due process was adhered to.
When our correspondent visited the school, normalcy had returned, but there was a patrol van and a team of men of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps on the premises.
The Kwara State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ajayi Okasanmi, said the plain clothed security men on Monday reported to the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ambrose Aisabo that they came to Kwara State for an investigation.
He stated that the CP directed them to the State Criminal Investigation Department for normal documentations.
He added that the SCID further directed the visiting security operatives to take their letter to the Area Commander Metro, who could, if there was any need, give them police assistance.
The PPRO said the command believed the visiting security men must have followed the directive.
He added that they were surprised to receive an alert there was a disquiet in the Al-Hikmah University.
Okasanmi said, "We did not even know that they were policemen, the commissioner of police deployed some patrols vans in the school, only for them to discover that those people were the policemen that came yesterday.
"The CP has ordered that the policemen be brought to the headquarters and he directed investigation into the matter.
"As of now, everything is back to normal and the policemen are at the SCID undergoing investigation. The students have resumed normal academic activities in the campus. There is no more problem."
Source: PUNCH.
0 comments:
Post a Comment