Police officers on Monday dispersed protesting students of the College of Education Ilorin, Kwara State with tear gas.

The students were protesting over the non-payment of their lecturer’s salaries, a situation which had denied them the opportunity of commencing their semester examination.

The students had earlier on Monday converged on their classroom to write their examinations only for them to meet the classroom empty due to the boycotting of the classes by their lecturers.

The aggrieved students then forcefully opened the main gate of the school and started a protest to the government house in Ilorin, the state capital.

The protest was, however, cut short along unity road, some meters away from government house as policemen dispersed them with tear gas leaving the students and passersby to scamper for safety.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Ayaji Okasanmi, told Channels Television that the students were dispersed because they ‘became uncontrollable and damaged some properties.’

“They are fighting for their teachers, as far as we are concerned, the teachers are capable of fighting for themselves. This morning, the students came out, not only that, they started disturbing and destroying properties of innocent persons. They became uncontrollable.

“When we discovered they had damaged so many vehicles, we had to forcefully disperse them. We also didn’t want hoodlums to hijack the protest,” Okasanmi told Channels Television.

•Sourced from Channels TV report

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