Lokoja varsity students threaten to block highway over fatal accidents

Protesting students of Federal University Lokoja, FUL, on Wednesday threatened to block the Abuja-Lagos Highway if the federal government failed to stop the incessant killing of their colleagues by trucks.

Benjamin Timothy, FUL President, Student Union Government, SUG, who made the threat during the procession at the Falele Campus, Lokoja, said the students were tired of mourning their colleagues.

It would be recalled that five of the institution’s students were killed on Monday when an articulated vehicle lost control and crushed a shuttle bus carrying the students.

“The five students killed on Monday have brought the number to 12 students killed by trucks in avoidable accidents in just a space of two months,” the SUG President decried.

Timothy said that the peaceful demonstration staged on Wednesday was a signal to the authorities concerned to do something drastic about the continuous massacre of innocent students along the highway, or they would barricade it.

“We have given the authorities 72 hours to address the incessant killings of our fellow students, or we file out of the streets in huge protest.

“The five fellow students that were killed on Monday brought the casualty to 12. We can’t keep folding our arms to see those trucks keep on killing us like chickens.

“Most of us came to this university from afar in search of knowledge, and not to die.

“Therefore, we must rise against dangerous and reckless drivers, who are out to kill us along the Felele Highway,” he said.

According to him, the students are yet to see any government action toward addressing the matter even though Gov. Ahmed Ododo of Kogi had pledged to do something drastic within 48 hours’ time.

Also speaking, Gomina Ahmed-Kabir, Chairman, National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, in Kogi, decried the inaction of the federal and state governments over the continuous killing of students on the highway.

Responding, retired Commodore Jerry Omodara, the Security Adviser to Gov. Ododo pleaded with the protesting students to give the government more time to address the issue, explaining that Ododo had within less than 24 hours of Monday’s ugly incident, already constituted a committee to look into the matter.

According to him, the committee is headed by the Deputy Gov., Joel Salifu, with FUL Vice Chancellor as a member. He explained that the committee would look into ways of stopping the incessant killings of students on the highway.

Mr Samuel Oyedeji, Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, Kogi, expressed sadness over the tragic accidents witnessed along the highway.