The students of University of Lagos (UNILAG), in continuation of their protest over the renaming of their institution after Late M.K.O Abiola, disrupted traffic on the 3rd Mainland bridge, Lagos, this morning.
A pregnant woman and many workers on their way to work in Lagos Island were seen stranded on the bridge with the protesting students blocking some sections of the road with seized BRT buses.
The students marched from their main campus at Akoka, Yaba through Herbert Macaulay Street to the Adekunle link on the bridge, demanding the reversion to the original name of the university.
The students are also occupying areas in Alagomeji, Yaba, Sabo and the University’s main gate. Few lecturers and Alumni of the school joined the students in the protest.
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Umar Manko, who led a team of police officers to the scene of the protest, asked the students to return to their campuses and stay calm until the government finds a solution to the problem.
President Goodluck Jonathan in his 50-minute Democracy Day address to Nigerians on Tuesday had changed the name of the institution to Moshood Abiola University, Lagos.
His announcement of the name change did not go down well with the students, who insisted that Mr Jonathan should have named another national monument after the late Abiola.
Although they said they had nothing against Abiola, who died on July 7, 1998 while fighting to validate his June 12, 1993 presidential mandate, they said UNILAG was not the most appropriate institution to be named after the late politician.
Meanwhile, the University board through its radio station said on Wednesday that it has suspended all its academic activities for the next two weeks. The board also asked all students to vacate the school premises before 11am.
