A misunderstanding between some students of Federal Polytechnic Bida and the commercial driver of a bus which the students boarded on Saturday, resulted in the reported death of several students, a lecturer and some indigenes of Bida town.
Apart from the dead, several other people sustained various degrees of injury and were rushed to the hospitals in the town.
However, the Niger State police command which confirmed the incident said that only one person died.
According to the reports, the clash was started by a conflict between a commercial river and students of Bida poly who boarded his vehicle and it soon escalated to become a communal clash.
[penci_blockquote style=”style-2″ align=”none” author=””]“Consequently, the youth in the town went on rampage, attacking off campus students and innocent visitors in houses and hotels around the institution,” Yakadi said.[/penci_blockquote]
The students were said to have boarded the commercial bus from Minna to Bida on Saturday and agreed with the driver to take them straight to the campus. But when they got to Bida, the driver took them to the park and ended the journey, insisting that the park was the normal final bus stop.
The students, who had paid to be taken to the campus, went to the garage officials to lay their complaints but they were ignored, an action said to have infuriated the students.
The students returned to the garage on Sunday with some of the Students Union officials to lay their complaints but they were allegedly, beaten up by some boys in the garage. The students then returned to the campus, mobilized themselves and went back to Esso Motor Park in Bida to fight
During the brawl students were reportedly killed in the clash. A lecturer of Bida Polytechnic was also said to have lost his life in the clash. A driver believed to be an indigene was also killed leading to a full-blown communal clash between indigenes and students.
Efforts by the vigilante and the police to quell the crisis which lasted for hours, proved abortive.
Meanwhile, Commissioner of Police, Niger, Mr Dibal Yakadi, confirmed on Monday that one person was killed and 13 suspects were arrested in a clash between the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) members and students of the Federal Polytechnic, Bida.
[penci_related_posts taxonomies=”undefined” title=”Online Related Posts” background=”” border=”” thumbright=”no” number=”4″ style=”grid” align=”none” displayby=”recent_posts” orderby=”random”]Yakadi, who confirmed this in Minna, attributed the clash to the refusal of a union member to drop off the students he carried from Minna at the Poly Junction instead of the Etsu Yahaya Motor Park, Bida.
According to the police chief, the vehicle was driven by one Baba Mohammed from Minna to Bida.
“As a result, a fight ensued and a student sustained bruises while the driver sustained injuries on the neck.”
The commissioner of police said the students mobilised in large number and went to Estu Yahaya Park to attack the union members, during which seven motorcycles were burnt.
“A lecturer in the institution, Danlami Mohammed, Johnson Ouoha and Habib Mohammed were wounded.
“Consequently, the youth in the town went on rampage, attacking off campus students and innocent visitors in houses and hotels around the institution,” Yakadi said.
He said that 13 suspects were arrested and being interrogated in connection with the fracas.
“Ten students are currently on admission at the General Hospital Bida, while one person was confirmed dead,” the police commissioner said.