Quit the oppression; without students, you’ll be jobless – Group to university administrators

A pressure group, Economic Fighters League has called on school administrators to be mindful of the fact that if students refuse to be in school, there will be no jobs for them as well.

The statement is a reaction to the recent alleged brutalities meted out to some students of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) by security personnel of the institution.

“For merely exercising their right to assembly and protest, students have been subjected to extreme high-handedness. We 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,” a portion of the statement said.

“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 (the security officers) 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,” it added.

Background

The School’s security on Friday [October 19, 2018] pounced on unarmed students who were having a peaceful vigil at the forecourt of the hall in protest of management’s freeze on “morale”, a usual Friday night jamboree in all the halls at the school.

The University in a communique signed and posted both the Continental Hall and University Hall Management asked the student body to cease their usual ‘Friday Night Morale’ as the school has suspended the activity.

The notice read “Notice is hereby given that all forms of “morales” in and around the University Hall are suspended with immediate effect. This decision was taken in view of several negative issues encountered recently with respect to morales in the hall. Any person who flouts this directive shall receive the necessary sanction and response”.

A group of security men who were said to be acting based on orders from the authorities, allegedly manhandled students who reportedly flouted the rules and held a mini vigil and in the process one student sustained severe head injuries, bleeding profusely.

The injured student was immediately admitted to the KNUST Hospital for treatment on Friday evening, eyewitnesses disclosed to DAILY GUIDE on condition of anonymity.



Eleven (11) other students, including one former student of KNUST, who were said to be part of the demonstrators, were reportedly overpowered by the KNUST security men, who sent them to the Tech Police Station where they were caged.