Fighters back KNUST demo against 'brutality, academic oppression'

Pressure group Economic Fighters League (EFL) is backing the students of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) who demonstrated against the school authorities on Monday, 22 October 2018.

“We wish to express our unwavering solidarity with the students of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in their struggle against brutality and academic oppression,” Fighter-General, Hardi Yakubu, said in a statement.

Scores of soldiers arrived in several vehicles on campus on Monday after the students mounted road blocks, burnt tyres on the streets within the campus and vandalised property.

The aggrieved students were protesting against the arrest of 10 of their colleagues and one alumnus by the police on Friday, 19 October 2018, for holding a vigil on campus.

The Fighters said: “It is our strong belief that given the facts on the ground, the mass action they are embarking upon today is in the right direction and all Fighters in the Ashanti Region are highly encouraged to join the protests”.

The Fighters indicated that they do not comprehend the reason for subjecting students to extreme high-handedness for merely exercising their right to assemble and protest.

EFL said they “condemn in no uncertain terms, the acts of brutality meted out to innocent students”.

“Academic oppression must not be allowed to gain permanence in our educational institutions and we call on all stakeholders to address this issue forthwith. We take this opportunity to remind internal security officers in all universities to be mindful of the tendency of school administrators to use them in their attempt to quell legitimate student dissent. They and students are in the same class of oppressed citizens and must be allies, not foes. University administrators must also remember that if students refuse to be in school, they will have no jobs. Students in all institutions should take a cue from their counterparts in KNUST and resist, with all might and main, any form of academic oppression,” the statement concluded.