At least 14 students hospitalized in Nigeria's Jos after protest
Date 2011/1/30 15:20:40 | Topic: Nigeria
| 20110130
xinhua
JOS, Nigeria Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- At least 14 students of University of Jos in Nigeria's central north Plateau State have been hospitalized, after sustaining gunshot wounds during a clash with members of Special Task Force (STF) at the university students ' hostel
Hassan Umaru, the commander of the task force, told reporters in Jos, the state capital, on Saturday that the soldiers in self defense resorted to shooting in the air which resulted in four students being shot on the legs in order to curtail their excess after all efforts to pacify them failed to yield positive response.
The military chief said some Muslim youths on arrival from the burial of one of their colleague resorted to molesting students and passersby and invariably stabbed four of the students in front of the hostel.
He told reporters that the students regrouped to confront the hoodlums that led to breakdown of law and order within the student village and when the security agents tried to pacify the students, every plea fell on deaf ears and the soldiers in self defense repelled the aggrieved students by firing into the air.
The confrontation led to hoodlums hijacking the protest leading to burning of houses and petrol stations within the Farin Gada/ Zaria road axis while motorists and passersby were molested, Umaru said.
A student leader Nantok Dashuwar accused the military of shooting the students while they were protesting the stabbing of students in front of the hostels without provocation and wonder why the military were unable to apprehend the culprits but instead open fire on innocent students.
Meanwhile, the situation has been brought under control as the Vice Chancellor of the University Prof. Sonny Tyoden and other principal officers of the institution have appeal to the students to remain calm as efforts are been made in collaboration with security agents to apprehend those that are involve in the incident.
Jos was plunged in a pool of blood on March 7, 2010, when members of local Muslim and Christian communities fought each other in revenge for previous killings.
Police said 109 people were slain in the March 7 tragedy, mostly women and children, weeks after hundreds died in waves of sectarian violence in the region.
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