Rivers poly students batter guards, raze Rector’s office

Confusion enveloped the Rivers State Polytechnic in Bori, Khana Local Government Area, on Thursday as students engaged private security guards, attached to the institution, in a free-for-all.

The tension that eventually led to the closure of the school began on Wednesday when members of the National Association of Akwa Ibom State Students in RIVPOLY prepared to elect a new executive of the union.

It was gathered that the private security guards had, for an undisclosed reason, decided to interrogate one of the members of the association, identified as Effiong, while the election was ongoing.

The development, according to sources, did not go down well with Effiong, even as the chief security officer of the institution raced to the scene when some of the students began to threaten to make trouble.

Though Effiong’s crime was not mentioned, it was learnt that the student was beaten up by a group of policemen before he was taken away in a Hilux van.

However, speculation that Effiong had passed on in police custody worsened the tension in the institution as the students and members of the association spoiled for war on Thursday.

While security personnel on duty assured the angry students that Effiong was not dead, the situation became uncontrollable as the students expressed their annoyance over the ill treatment of their brother.

“We are not happy because we could not find our brother within the school premises today (Thursday). We learnt he died yesterday after being beaten up by the police,” one of the students, who preferred anonymity, said.

As the students began to protest and called for Effiong’s immediate release, the private security personnel attached the polytechnic appealed to them for calm, promising that their colleague would soon be released.

The youth immediately began to beat up the chief security officer of the institution and other security personnel while a group of persons seized the opportunity to loot the ICT Centre of the school and set the office of the Rector and Bursar ablaze.

It took the intervention of policemen from Bori Area Command and operatives of the Joint Task Force, who came some minutes later, for the riotous students to leave the scene.

The State Police Commissioner, Mr. Dan Bature, who confirmed the incident, explained that some students had a disagreement with the chief security officer of the institution as a result of the arrest and detention of their colleague.

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Rivers poly students batter guards, raze Rector’s office