FUEL, ELECTRICITY PRICE HIKES: Police vows to deal with any student involved in NANS protest

The Ogun State Police Command has warned any member of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) not to attempt to protest the recent hike in fuel price as well as the increase in electricity tariff, or risk being dealt with.

The order was issued in a statement on Saturday by the Ogun Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, who said that it was in receipt of reliable intelligence that “some disgruntled elements were bent on disturbing public peace in parts of Ogun state, starting from Monday, September 14.”

Oyeyemi added that, “In the course of identifying the persons involved and warn them against the planned action, a group of individuals who claim to be NANS executives South-West Zone D, led by one Kappo Samuel Olawale, in a letter addressed to the Command, has given the Federal Government a five-day ultimatum to reverse the recent hike in fuel price and electricity tariffs; threatening to unleash mayhem in Ogun State after the expiration of the ultimatum on Sunday 13th September 2020.”

He said that it is part of the students’ plans to block all major highways, including the Lagos-Ibadan and Lagos-Benin expressways; “recruit miscreants, street urchins, hoodlums, expelled, suspended and perpetual students over-running their courses at tertiary institutions in Ogun State and other states from the South-West, to swell their ranks and ensure their desired objective of spreading violence in the State” is achieved.

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“The deliberate and selfishly designed violence-oriented protest planned for Monday 14th September, 2020, is not approved by the Ogun state Police Command, and will be resisted vehemently.

“No group will be allowed to perpetually hold the entire good people of Ogun state in perpetual fear of violence and harm to their persons and properties. Olawale and his group are hereby advised, in their own interest, to drop their plan to block any highway in the state, and thereby cause confusion, disturbances and public apprehension. The law is not on their side on this.

“Officers and men of the command have consequently been put on red alert in view of this unwarranted threat.

“The police in conjunction with other security agencies have resolved, and have the capacity, to deal with such elements in the most decisive manner.

“Parents and guardians are therefore advised to call their children and wards to order. A word is enough for the wise!” the statement added.

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