Scores of students of Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, on Thursday staged a violent protest which disrupted the rain semester examinations scheduled to begin today.
The Lagos-Badagry Expressway and the LASU-Iba Road were barricaded, causing a gridlock.
Hundreds of policemen with armoured tank and 20 patrol vans were stationed at the institution’s main gate.
Some of the inscriptions on the placards of the demonstrating students read:“Reduce the school fees’’, “Open the registration portal’’, and “Obafunwa must go’’.
Earlier, the institution’s management had insisted on commencing the rain semester exam. on Jan. 23.
CSP Waheed Ayilara, who addressed the protesting students, urged them to sheathe their swords.
He said the police authorities would prevail on the authorities to re-open the LASU portal, adding that the period of registration would be extended.
“Negotiation is ongoing for the extension of the registration and I assure you that the portal will be re-opened. Just let us open the road and allow users to have access.
“Do not destroy any property because your children will suffer it in future, ’’ he said.
The aggrieved students, however, demanded that the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Oladapo Obafunwa, must address them and not a police officer.
“The VC must come down and address us himself and must agree to re-open the portal.
“The school fees are too high for us to pay before the deadline… the management did not close the school’s bank account while we were paying in.
“But now it has closed the portal after we have paid, thereby disallowing us to write our exams.
“A refusal to re-open the portal will cause us to miss the semester examinations which is an automatic carry over,” a student leader, who pleaded anonymity said.
At about 12.30 p.m., the students heightened the tempo of the protest which prompted the intervention of the police.
The policemen later fired teargas and shot into the air to disperse the students in a bid to smuggle Obafunwa out of the institution.
Six students, who allegedly sustained injuries during the protest, were treated at the institution’s clinic.
Meanwhile, a bulletin was circulated after the management meeting at 1.30 p.m., confirming the re-opening of the portal.
“Management has approved the re-opening of the students’ registration portal for the 2012/2013 academic session to enable the few students, who are yet to register for the semester to do so.
“The university authority directed that the affected students should take advantage of this opportunity to register their courses online as required between Thursday and Friday this week without further delay.
“Meanwhile, the schedule of examination for the aforementioned academic session remains as planned,” it stated.
