Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State on Wednesday ordered the closure of Anambra State University after a student demonstration paralysed activities at the Igbariam campus of the university.
Students had poured into the streets on Wednesday morning after gunmen, suspected to be armed robbers, killed a female student on Tuesday.
The students, who blocked the Igbariam – Awkuzu road and the Enugu-Onitsha expressway, accused the management of the institution of failing to provide adequate security for students.
They also called for on-campus accommodation for students, complete with water and power supply.
Obi cut short his visits to mission hospitals and schools and rushed to Igbariam on hearing about the student demonstration.
He immediately ordered that the institution be closed when the students could not be controlled.
Gunmen suspected to be armed robbers had raided off-campus hostels where they shot dead a female student, whose identity had yet to be known. Five other students were said to have sustained various degrees of gunshot injuries.
The students said those living in off-campus hostels had become regular victims of armed robbers, who robbed students and raped female students.
The students also said they were protesting against the failure of the state government to provide them with drinking water, accommodation and other necessary things that would aid learning in the university.
The spokesman for the students, Nick Nka, said the deceased died after losing a lot of blood.
On getting to the scene of the killing, Governor Obi, in company with the state Commissioner for Education, Dr. Uju Okeke, and other government officials, observed a minute’s silence for the deceased.
Meanwhile, the authorities of the institution, through the Deputy Vice Chancellor Administration, Prof. Obiajulu Obikeze, described the situation as precarious. He said the school authority was already working on the situation.
