April 23, (THEWILL)- The violence that rocked the University of Benin (UNIBEN) Senior Staff Cub on Friday, April 12, has continued to generate tension. This is even as Barr Olumide Akpata, a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association andgovernorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP),has called on parents to urgently extricate their children from the clutches of the desperate politicians exploiting them.
THEWILL reports that Barr. Akpata, thegovernorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) for the September 21 gubernatorial election in Edo State, who was a guest at an interactive session organised by the University of Benin Staff Club, was violently interrupted during the event, which caused a crisis within the school premises on April 12.
The interactive session had abruptly ended after a lecturer in the Department of Economics,Dr Presley Osemwengie, was allegedly hit in the back of his head with a small axe by students, who invaded the occasion.
Earlier, the Edo State Police Command had invited Barr Akpata and the Edo State chairman of the Labour Party,Kelly Ogbaloi, over the violence.
However, in a statement he personally signed on Monday, Akpata, who dissociated himself from the attack, accused some politicians in Edo State of instigating the students, led by the University’s Students Union President, to continue a calumny campaign against his person.
The statement read: “I feel compelled to provide this further statement in respect of the deeply regrettable events that occurred at the University of Benin (UNIBEN) Senior Staff Club on Friday, 12th April 2024, during my interactive session with some senior members of Staff of the University. While I had hoped to put this incident behind us, the situation has taken an unsettling turn that necessitates addressing it again, directly.
“The facts of what transpired are sacred and no amount of obfuscation will changethem. To restate the facts:
(i) Neither I nor anyone from my team initiated or perpetrated any attacks.
(ii) Rather, we were the victims of what evidence increasingly suggests was a premeditated assault, potentially motivated by political interests.
(iii) This vicious attack was carried out by suspected hoodlums, some ofwhom eyewitnesses report, were accompanying the President of the Student Union Government (SUG).
(iv) The assault left a Lecturer seriously injured, and his life nearly taken by a brutal axe blow to the back of his head. My heart goes out to him and his family, and I once again unequivocally condemn this senseless act of violence.
“As the attack unfolded, those present at the Staff Club will attest that upon realising that students may have been involved in the ugly incident, I immediately began pleading for leniency towards any such students.
“As a former student myself, I understood the grave consequences such misguided actions could have on their futures. I made this same plea before the Committee investigating the said incident, hoping to protect any students who may have been involved.
“However, emboldened by the apparent support of the highly-placed Edo State Government official who has been pulling the strings from behind the scenes and orchestrating mayhem, some of these students have continued an unrelenting campaign against me, fabricating accounts completely lacking in truth – all seemingly in a bid to gain perceived political advantage for their benefactor.
“It is due to my genuine concern for the well-being of these students and indeed for their academic progress, that I call on their parents to urgently intervene in this matter and extricate their children from the clutches of the desperate politicians exploiting them. These politicians clearly do not have the best interests of the students at heart and are ready to jeopardise young lives for immediate political gain at the expense of the very education their parents have sacrificed to provide.
“I make this impassioned plea to their parents in the light of recent publications allegedly originating from some of these students themselves.
“I call on those desperate politicians who are so blinded by ambition that they do not mind endangering the future of our youth to kindly cease these reckless actions immediately. The lives and destinies of these students are infinitely more precious than any fleeting political agenda. If they insist on using young people as pawns, then they should deploy their own children rather than the children of others.
“I also implore all those who value integrity, justice, and the prosperous future of this nation to condemn such reprehensible tactics in the strongest terms. These self-serving individuals cannot be allowed to jeopardise the future of our youth and imperil the very fabric of our society in their quest for power at any cost. We must stand united against those who would stop at nothing to gain or hold on to power even at the expense of the next generation. The path forward for a truly great society demands that we protect the potential of our young people as our most precious resource. Their well-being must remain paramount.”
Meanwhile, the UNIBEN) branch of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), on Monday, threatened to boycott resumption on the 28th of April 2024, over the violence on campus.
Demanding immediate action and necessary processes be initiated to nip in the bud the incessant violent attacks on lecturers and management staff by some errant students of the institution, theASUU leadership said it is constrained to embark on teaching and research in an environment in which lecturers are prime targets for brutalisation or elimination by some groups and individuals.
ASUU condemned the attempted murder of Dr Osemwengie by some members of the Executive Committee of the University of Benin Students Union.
Chairman and Secretary of UNIBEN ASUU branch, Ray Chikogu and Success Abusomwan, in a statement, condemned the violent action of the students at the Senior Staff Club.
“On that fateful day, the President of the Students Union of the University of Benin marched upon a gathering of staff of the University and their invited guests, ordering them to discontinue their interaction as he was not pre-informed and consequently, did not grant permission for the interaction to be held.
“In the resulting melee, Dr Presley Osemwengie was attacked; hit in the back of his head with a small axe and left for dead in the pool of his own blood by some of those in the company of the Students Union President.
“It is necessary to note that this worrisome trend began with the assault by both students and non-students of the University on the person of the current Vice Chancellor of the University of Benin in September 2021 when she was humiliated and marched from her residence to the Main Gate of the University in very hostile circumstances.
“Other similar and very unsavoury incidents in which students of the University of Benin have threatened and brutalised lecturers of the University have also been reported at different times. This cannot continue.
“We wish to now state that it is impossible for our members to hereafter dispose themselves to any teaching and research in an environment in which they are prime targets for brutalisation or elimination by some of the students they are labouring to impact with the wealth of their intellectual property.
“So, it is incumbent on the Administration of the University of Benin to provide adequate security for staff of the University and create an atmosphere conducive for effective teaching and learning on our campuses.
“To the end that our members will feel safe to conduct their business of research, teaching, and supervision going forward from the 28th of April 2024 (being the date of resumption for the next academic session) therefore, and without prejudice to the work of the Committee set”,they said.
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