Unrest in the University of Benin as Students retaliate to soldiers who tend to harras them on campus in the late hour of yesterday.
It was gathered that the soldiers who were in the school premises to make use of the available ATM on campus which is believe to be dispensing the new naira notes tend to take over the queue as two of the soldiers involve is said to shuffle themselves into the queue which eventually leads to crisis
The union leader Comr. Foster Amadin explaining the incident through a press statement reads
I am constrained to write you at this moment, in condemnation of the harassment and molestation of some UNIBEN Students at the ATM stand by some trigger-happy new Recruits of the Nigerian Army attached to the S&T Barracks, Ugbowo.
It is appalling that the members of the Nigerian Army attached to the S&T Barracks have continued to intimidate, assault, harass and molest our fellow students in Banks and ATM stands inside our school. Today, they demonstrated the height of this madness when they swaggered into our school and proceeded to the ATM stand to make some transactions. On getting there, they saw an orderly queue of people who made transactions on the ATM machine one after another. Instead of taking their place in the queue or asking for some favor through benign persuasion, these new Recruits by-passed everyone on the line and went straight to use the ATM. When some people objected to this act, the Soldiers let loose hell upon UNIBEN Students.
I strongly condemn this brazen, beastly act of man’s inhumanity to his fellow man. It is highly unprofessional. I call on the esteemed Commander of S&T Barracks to call his new Recruits to order and to save us from their harassment.
Let me equally state that those involved in a video circulating the media where a Soldier was beaten, are not University of Benin Students. UNIBEN students are so law abiding, patriotic and intellectually-savvy that they cannot lay their hands on a Nigerian Soldier, for whatsoever reason. This is more so, in a situation where the Students were helpless and hapless in the face of the heavily armed Soldiers. Perhaps, those involved could be sympathizers of the helpless Students.
Furthermore, I urge the 77,000+1 UNIBEN Students who have planned to register our grievances tomorrow morning by staging a protest at the gate of S&T Barracks, to stay back in our various hostels and remain calm as always, for the University of Benin management and the leadership of the Nigerian Army (S&T Barracks, Ugbowo) are already in touch to iron out the squeeze.
A sour incidence took place on Ugbowo Campus today in which some young army trainees where moving from one ATM machine to another to withdraw while telling students who have being on queue for hours to give way for them.
In one of the ATM stand, one of our students who have being on the queue for a long time refuse to give way , and claims she is making a video with her phone about their actions.
The campus was all peaceful until the army trainees decided to unleash beating and dehumanizing assault on the student and others around.
This led to an intervention from the Uniben security department who were attempting to de-escalate the already tensed situation, but were also met with dehumanizing treatment from the army trainees, in which some members of the security department were assaulted.
This led to some level of resistance from the students and security department to restrain the army trainee who was visibly attempting to cause further assault on campus and even threatened to bring more persons to come and cause rampage on campus.
A video is seen circulating where an army trainee on uniform is being restrained by passerbys at the University of Benin main gate to avoid further escalation on the matter before he jumped the fence to run off. Before the video was taken, students and security officers where already subjected to dehumanizing treatment of rolling in the floor, physical assault and the destructions of smart phones.
The commandant of ST Barrack called the University to assure that the army trainees will be subject to discipline and also called that University of Benin Students should trust them in good faith to handle the matter so as to continually maintain the peace and order in the environment.
The Vice Chancellor, the Dean of student and the Student Union leadership is very much aware and are on top of the matter, making several efforts to ensure that justice is served.
Greatest Uniben students, the video circulating online about the restraining of the army trainee on uniform did not capture the initial provocation on our students. None the less, it is important at this point that we do not loose the public view as intellectuals and peaceful students, we will trust the University authorities to handle the matter closely and trust that no one who should be punished will be left unpunished.
We must also understand that the artificial hardship caused by inadequate cash flow in the economy by our bank must be followed up closely.
Students are made to spend useful hours queueing at ATM stands while waiting for cash to meet basic end meets, the altercation between the University community and the army trainees should not have occurred if our banks had ensured that the ATMs are properly filled up and cash flow is released to facilitate end meets.
To this end, the Union will be making stops at each of this banks in Ugbowo campus Tomorrow Friday, 3rd February, to enquire the cause of cash scarcity on campus despite the presence of numerous banks and ATM machines with the view to resolving this gridlocks and to ensure our students can spend their meaningful time on their studies.
Let it be known that University of Benin Students are intellectuals, law abiding citizens, and patriotic Nigerians who respect the army officers for their sacrifices, but none the less they will not be cowed into suppression by any body or group. As we call for calm and caution amongst our students, we expect the the Army Commandant will take the matter seriously as he as assured us and ensure justice is served.
