Three students, including two females of Delta State origin, were, on Wednesday, injured as operatives of the Delta Police Command fired teargas canisters during a protest over the non-payment of their bursary by the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC).
The incident occurred at the DESOPADEC secretariat located along the Warri-Sapele Road, adjacent to the Nigeria Navy Ship (NNS DELTA), Warri Naval Base in Warri South Local Government Area of the state, Tribune reports.
The students had, as early as 7:00a.m, on Wednesday, besieged the DESOPADEC office carrying placards bearing various inscriptions and singing songs.
However, law-enforcement agents were swiftly deployed to the area to avert any eventuality and they had to use minimal force on the students via teargas when things appeared going out of hand.
The students, drawn from various universities and other higher institutions, were seen running helter-skelter when teargas canisters were fired by the police operatives who arrived at the gate of the complex with two vehicles to complement the police guards manning the gate.
As the situation died down, two female students, whose name could not be ascertained as of press time, were left in a critical state following the effect of the teargas.
Another male student was also choked by the effect of the teargas, while several others sustained bruises as they scampered to safety.
One of the student leaders, who declined to disclose his identity, told journalists that the commission had allegedly continued to pay deaf ears to their demands, hence the protest.
“We have been deliberating on this bursary issue for quite some time now. DESOPADEC disclosed that they had disbursed the money for payment, but we have not received it.
“We have had meetings and different peace talks with the board on several occasions and because nothing has been done, we decided to protest today.
“We got here as early as 7:00 a.m and we were protesting peacefully, before we knew what was happening, they started shooting tear gas canisters at us. We had no option but to run for dear lives. They want to kill us because of our own money,” he said.
Meanwhile, attempts by a staff member of DESOPADEC to pacify the protesting students proved abortive, but Tribune Online gathered that the amount of money for the bursary is N30,000 per student which the official was not ready to confirm.
Reacting to the protest, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Delta State Police Command, DSP Bright Edafe, who initially couldn’t confirm if teargas canisters were used on the students, later said “They came and started attacking the workers, destroying property and later blocked the express (way). So they were dispersed with the use of teargas, nobody was injured to our knowledge, thanks.
“For the benefit of the doubt, whoever is claiming to have been injured should come forward.”
