Around 7 am on Friday, 17th February 2017, some set of Nigerian Students led by Mr Ogbonna Collins (A student at the Federal University Of Technology, Owerri) embarked on a peaceful protest because of a school fees increment of over 50 percent. The protest was truly peaceful and ethical at first as students were seen demonstrating peacefully carrying placards with messages written on them.

But all of that would change after they visited the institution’s senate building to find out the Vice Chancellor whom was the student’s prime target not present. The students proceeded with their peaceful protest, but on their way back towards the ICT arena, came the Vice Chancellor, whom instead of addressing the agonized Nigerian students, drove off without uttering a word to the students. This enraged the already angry students, prompting them to find some other way to get attention.

HOW THE RIOT ACT TOOK PLACE

The enraged students from ICT arena, marched towards the CCE building, near FUTO park, destroyed the area, later on marched towards the SUG (Students Union Government) secretariat, vandalized the SUG building, including the new building beside it (SUG Resource Center). From there, they marched towards Hostel C, (The Institution’s First female hostel) destroyed various fellowship notice board, before the Man-O-War came down to curb the violent act.

The Students marched down to The School Senate, on their way to the Senate, they vandalized Maritime Management Technology Arena, then branched towards Entrepreneurship building (famously known as ENS Building) destroyed the whole glass in the building, and then headed to the Senate building again, on getting to Senate roundabout, SSS and some other security agencies were seen afar blocking the Senate road and the route to Diamond bank (the institution’s only commercial bank) to stop the students, but the students refused to go back which prompted the security agencies to dispose tear gas into the air, thinking it would scare the enraged students, but no, it didn’t.

Vexed even more, the students began to pull down the barbed wire fencing the Senate, trooped in, vandalized Onwuliri Conference Center; FUTO buses parked within the senate premises were also vandalized, the students later trooped into the Senate building, destroyed the Vice Chancellor’s portrait, and also succeeded in pulling down the Senate gate. Diamond Bank building would be the next vandalism victim, plus cars and other properties around the bank.

From Diamond bank, the students went back to ICT building where some “screeching vandalism” took place, the enraged students succeeded in bringing down the institution’s ICT center by stealing computers, printers and other school gadgets.

A Man-O-War student was also severely beaten by the enraged students for confronting a fellow student. Then came the police troops, chasing the students, leading to the arrest of many students. We learnt the organizer of the protest (Mr Ogbonna Collins) had been arrested earlier before the vandalism.

Students living in the school hostel were asked to evacuate the hostels before 4:00 pm. And then came ‘a yet to be confirmed news’ that the university has been indefinitely shut down by the Federal Government of Nigeria. Properties worth Millions of Naira were vandalized. That was how a peaceful protest turned out into a violent riot.

cc; lalasticlala

Source: http://www.studentsinfoportal.com/campus-news-and-gist/futo-protest-2017-how-a-peaceful-protest-turned-vilolent/