A bereaved mother couldn’t contain her tears after the corpse of her son was brought home yesterday after the clash between security operatives and residents in Amassoma, Southern Ijaw, Bayelsa State. The clash, which reportedly started in the morning at the gate of the state-owned Niger Delta University (NDU), was said to have left many people injured.
It was gathered that the university community was thrown into tension as sporadic gunshots and fired teargas canisters caused panic among the residents.
The problem was said to have started when a detachment of armed security operatives, who arrived the community early in the morning, forcefully opened the gate of the troubled school.
The school was shut down by aggrieved community women, whose names were removed from NDU’s payroll after they were indicted by the ongoing public sector reforms of Governor Seriake Dickson.
The women, who insisted that their names must be returned to the payroll against civil service rules, were said to have hired the services of a welder to permanently seal the university’s gate.
The protesters including women and youths were said to be angry when they woke up in the morning to discover that the school’s gate was forcefully opened and surrounded by scores of heavily armed security operatives.
They were said to have regrouped in their numbers and marched towards the gate to confront the security men.