Uniport Massacre : Students Set Houses Ablaze

Students of the University of Port Harcourt went on  rampage Tuesday  to protest the murder of four of their colleagues by youths in Omuokiri-Aluu community  last Friday. They set ablaze no fewer than 12 houses in the community. Consequently, the university has been shut down by the authorities.

Spokesman of the university Dr William Wordi confirmed the closure of the school to our correspondent on phone.  He said he was going to send an official statement, but it was yet to come at press time.

Students from other institutions under the aegis of National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) stormed the university  to mobilise  students to protest against the brutal killing of three of their colleagues and one other  by riotous youths.

The rampaging students blocked the East-West road for several hours before allegedly marching to Omuokiri-Aluu to start wreaking havoc. Community sources said that they torched about 12 houses.

It was gathered that while the rampaging students were on the East-West road, they reportedly insisted that they would only move out of the road after the vice-chancellor of the university, Prof Joseph Ajienka, had addressed them.  The VC reportedly obliged them after securing assurances that he would not be rough-handled.

Sources said while the VC came to plead with the students to shun any temptation to be violent, some of the students immediately started hurling sachet water at him. It took the timely intervention of security operatives to whisk him away from the spot. The Rivers State police command yesterday arraigned the traditional ruler of Omuokere-Aluu, Alhaji Hassan Welewa, and 11 others in a Port Harcourt high court over their involvement in the murder of four students of the University of Port Harcourt. Those arraigned were among the 13 persons arrested by a team of the police, the State Security Service and the Joint Task Force (JTF) in the aftermath of the killing of the students on Friday, October 5.

The state commissioner of police, Mr. Mohammed Abdulkadir Indabawa, disclosed this when the executive secretary of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Professor Prof Ben Agwe, and his team visited him at the police headquarters in Port Harcourt. Indabawa, who spoke through the deputy police commissioner, Mr. Thomas Etomi, said two persons out of the 13 were kept behind to aid police investigation.

Giving an assurance that the police would unearth all details relating to the murder, the police boss stated that the NHRC would be kept abreast with developments from the police angle on the issue. He described the way the four were killed as barbaric, saying that there was no justification for the mob action. He promised that the police would ensure such ugly incident does not repeat itself again in the state.

Earlier, Prof. Angwe had said they were in the state to hear how the four were murdered. He said they would visit the village where the sad incident occurred and also make effort to meet with parents of the deceased before leaving the state. Angwe assured family members of the four and students of the University of Port Harcourt that his commission would stand by them to see that justice was done in the case.

He stated that NHRC had received calls from the international community on the sad incident, promising that they would also monitor the court process to its end.

The executive secretary appealed to protesting students of the university, who blocked the East-West road yesterday protesting the brutal murder to allow justice to take its full course on the incident.

Meanwhile, the Senate yesterday condemned the killing of the three students of the University of Port Harcourt and their friend. The Senate called on the security agencies to fish out the perpetrators and bring them to book. The Senate made the call following the debate of a motion sponsored by Sen. Ayogu Eze (PDP, Enugu) and 90 other senators.

The three 200 level students who were lynched are Baringa Lordson, Ugonna Obuzor, Mike Toku and their friend, Tekena Erikena, all below the age of 22 years. Eze had, in his lead debate, noted the dehumanising manner in which the four youths were stripped naked, marched like common criminals and battered to death.

The lawmaker described as flimsy the allegation of theft of laptops and BlackBerry phones levelled against them, which was yet to be ascertained. “The Senate is appalled by the flimsy and yet-to-be-substantiated allegation of theft of laptops and BlackBerry phones and urges that all the theories adduced as the reason for this crime be thoroughly investigated for a clue to this descent into barbarism.’’ Eze said it was a thing of worry that this was coming on the heels of another systematic murder of more than 40 persons, a majority of them students in another institution of higher learning. He also expressed concern over what he described as the cold attitude of leaders of Aluu community, who first gave approval for the extra-judicial killing.

Deputy Senate president Ike Ekweremadu in his contribution said that one of the deceased was well known to him, adding that the allegation of stealing of laptops levelled against him was immaterial. “I don’t believe the case of stealing levelled against them. One of the boys was known to me. His parents are well to do in the society. He has the latest Ipad and BlackBerry phones. “I do not want to go beyond this since the matter is currently being investigated. Those behind it must be found and dealt with,’’ he said.

Sen. Enyinnaya Abaribe (PDP, Abia) said it should be a thing of concern to every Nigerian that, while the act was going on, some Nigerians stood by and were laughing over it. “Something that worries me is that I have a little glimpse of the video: people were laughing, jeering and taking pictures of other people who were being slaughtered.”

While ruling on the motion, Senate president David Mark said what happened in Aluu was in every sense a condemnable act. He said the Senate would do all within its power, strength and might to address it.

Mark reiterated his support for the creation of state police, and said that the merits of the state police far outweigh the demerits. “I have said this before: that I was against the state police but I have since changed my mind. The frequencies with which so many crimes are being committed in this country and the difficulty the police have in carrying out their investigations means that there are real security challenges that we need to address. And to address them realistically, we must make sure that there are enough police men that can police this country,’’ Mark said.

Bereaved mother cries for justice, petitions Senate Mrs. Chinwe Biringa, mother of one of the slain students, Mr. Chiadika Biringa, has petitioned the president of the Senate for his and the Senate’s intervention to unravel the mystery behind their wards’ brutal murder. In a petition dated October 9, Mrs Biringa declared that their family wanted nothing but justice. “We do not want this thing to be swept under the rug like most Nigerian investigations. We seek the help and intervention of the Senate to ensure that justice is done. Justice is the only thing that can assuage the pains and emotional traumas consuming us and clear the name of our son so that he can rest in peace,” she said.

The petition read in part: “My name is Mrs. Chinwe Biringa. I am the mother of Mr. Chiadika Biringa, a second year student of Theater Arts at the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT). My husband is a very senior officer at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC. My son turned 20 years old this week and we gave him pocket money to celebrate it with his friends. On Friday morning, we were called by my second son, also a UNIPORT student, that all was not well and he was hearing bad rumours that villagers at Aluu, the host community of UNIPORT, had murdered four students. I immediately rushed to the scene only to see my son’s dead body being taken away naked to a mortuary in UNIPORT Teaching Hospital. I could not believe my eyes and collapsed. What did my son do? What did the other three young men who died with him do? First, we heard that the four students were alleged to have stolen a Blackberry phone and a laptop computer. This could not be further from the truth. My son has had a Blackberry phone and in fact a laptop computer since he was in primary school. No way could my son steal such a common thing as a cell phone which every village woman now owns.

We have been subjected to several gory videos and pictures on the internet. This shows that someone filmed the whole barbarism from beginning to end. My son and his friends were savagely beaten and burnt to death while villagers at ALUU watched. All this has been caught on film! The video shows that all this was filmed in broad daylight which suggests that they were killed after 7.30 am. Further investigation has revealed that they left their friend’s house at ALUU at about 7am to go and prepare for lectures. To waylay them and beat them with planks until they died like chicken is the most savage thing one can witness in Nigeria of 2012. First they were stripped naked, marched around like frog and then beaten to death. What savagery and bestiality!”