Oyo Police denies shooting female workers during student’s protest

Commissioner of Police Oyo State command, Mr Abiodun Odude, has dismissed claims of his men’s involvement in the shooting of two female members of staff of the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IAR&T), Ibadan.

Odude made the statement in a telephone interview in Ibadan.

The CP reacted to the reports that policemen deployed to control students’ protest at the Federal College of Agriculture (FCA), Apata, Ibadan, shot two workers of the institute.

Adediran said, “In the process of shooting, two personnel of IAR&T who have nothing to do neither with the students nor the college were shot with live bullets.’’

“A woman was shot in the abdomen while a young lady, an intern with us, was shot in the thigh.

“Two of them are lying critically ill at the Emergency Department of UCH, Ibadan.’’

Students of the College of Agriculture had on Monday morning protested against the closure of their institution.

The protesting students barricaded the gates to the IAR&T preventing human and vehicular movement into the premises of the institute, which shares the same place with college.

The blockade resulted in traffic jam on Ibadan-Abeokuta Road at Apata.

Speaking on the protest, Odude said during the demonstration, students blocked the Ibadan-Abeokuta Road while attacking vehicles and throwing stones at the police.

He said that four policemen were wounded as a result of the stones thrown at them by the students.

“Police fired teargas to push the students to the extreme and were able to arrest some of the students that threw the stones.

“There was no gun shot,’’ Odude insisted.