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| Prof. Jane Naana, Minister of Education |
The All Africa Students Union (AASU) has condemned the
recent killings of protest students in Ghana and Nigeria in what the Police and
the Army respectively are widely held responsible.
AASU’s reaction comes weeks after Gideon Aniah Azaare,
a final-year student at the University of Education Winneba, reportedly was gunned
down by an officer of the Ghana Police Service in the Bongo District, and four
students of the Nasarawa State University in Nigeria allegedly were shot dead by
officers of the Nigeria Army.
Gideon died of gunshot wounds to his ribs, leaving
behind a pregnant wife, when he joined community members in his hometown of Vea
in a stick-and-stone protest against a police-backed attempt by a contractor to
blast the community’s “sacred rocks” for the embankment of a greying dam. Weeks
later, four students in Nigeria died from gunshots when officers of the
Nigerian Army purportedly fired into a crowd of students protesting over lack
of basic amenities at the Nasarawa State University.
The Ghana Police Service and the Nigerian Army, in
separate press conferences held after publicly saying investigations had
commenced into the killings, have denied responsibility.
In a press statement issued to this blogger in Bolgatanga by its
Secretary General, Mr. Fred Awaah, the AASU said: “we shall no longer
tolerate what now appears to be a shooting spree by trigger-happy men in
uniform against students at the least provocation.”
It added: “Our radar will
remain active with media monitoring of the possible twists of events to ensure
that the promised investigations are not mere gimmicks and moves to keep
bereaved families and concerned groups waiting for eternity. It is only when we
get such persons duly investigated and possibly punished when found guilty for
their wrongdoings that we all can be sure that such wrongs are least likely to
be repeated.”
The tragic developments,
according to the Union, are inimical to the continent’s economic survival, political
stability and corporate image particularly at the time that Africa “is gaining
recognition and enjoying mutual respect from topnotch global economies as a
result of her perceived commitment to democratic governance.”
“The All Africa Students Union shares the now-widespread sentiments of
local and international observers who perceive the recent murders of potential
icons of a deprived continent by the very people who are trained and paid to
protect them as a sheer betrayal of public trust, a disgrace to the continent,
an indelible slur on the uniform, an ignominy on professionalism, a stone-age
abuse of power, a gross disregard for human lives, a hopeless deficiency of
civility, an excessive dosage of insensitivity, a ridicule of investment, an
apology of civil stewardship, a planned attack on freedom of speech, a carbon
copy of a half-sane dictator’s unrefined handling of a delicate beauty, a
leaked agenda against right to peaceful protest, a misdirected onslaught on
continental pride, a blind ambush on justice, a diabolical target on humanity,
a threat to democracy and a midday terror only comparable to Emperor Nero’s
time,” growled the statement.
The Union empathised with
families of the victims and called on media practitioners across the continent to
keep governments awake to their responsibility to protect and not to suppress
those they governed. It also urged interest groups on the continent to join the
growing calls for justice on the recent killings.
“The All Africa Students
Union exists for the welfare of all African students from the Sahara to the
Coast. We love Africa. We cherish our endowed students. We pity their
helplessness. To protect their interest and to advance their cause is why we
exist. Our grief has turned to anger and anger to resolution in the wake of the
wave of gunfire on students in Africa… Our authorities and duty bearers must think of
what people outside Africa think of us inside Africa!” it concluded.
Story by Edward Adeti
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