Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, on Monday, reiterated his commitment to unravelling the root of the circumstances that led to the incident that took place at the Federal University of Oye-Ekiti, FUOYE.
The students of FUOYE had on September 10, protested the irregular supply of power to their campuses. Their protest allegedly led to an attack on the convoy of the wife of the governor, Bisi Fayemi.
The encounter resulted in the death of two students. Quite a number of the students were also injured in the attack.
Governor Fayemi, while addressing the management of the University, in his office in Ado-Ekiti on Friday insisted that he would
get to the root of the crisis to forestall future occurrence of a similar incident.
Fayemi however, hinted that what led to the crisis was as a result of the communication gap between the students and the management.
Fayemi, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Biodun Omoleye, explained that it was obvious that neither the community nor
the school management had control over the privatised power distribution company, Benin Electricity Distribution Company
that supplies power to that area.
While condoling with the management and staff of the school, Fayemi, who prayed for the repose of the souls of those who lost their lives to the incident, also asked God for a quick recovery for those that are still recuperating in the hospital.
Condemning the attitudes of the students, the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Professor Abayomi Fashina explained that the students had finished their demonstration in the morning before regrouping in the afternoon, adding that the ugly incident could have been averted if the students had not regrouped.
“They shouldn’t have regrouped in the afternoon. It happened outside the University. I was still in the office working. The Student Union Leaders told the Commissioner of Police that they wanted to do a guided protest”, he said.
The Deputy VC said they have tried their best as management to counsel the students at different fora and promised to continue to engage them, so that there can be peace in the state.
“Because Dr. Kayode Fayemi is our man, we want his success. We will do everything humanly possible to support his administration and that is why we will work together as partners to make sure we achieve
success”, he added.
