…Operation-Zero-Option Squad and My UNN Militant Background Experience
By Nwankwo T. Nwaezeigwe, PhD
A Tortuous Intellectual Pathway
I gained admission into University of Nigeria in 1984, after working close to three years with Air Traffic Signals of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, during which I doubled as Propaganda Secretary of Civil Service Technical Workers Union of Nigeria, Enugu Airport Branch.
That was at the time we never knew that parents could facilitate University admissions for their children. And a High School Certificate holder could get a good paying job, while University graduates were granted car loans to purchase brand new cars.
Because I was working as an Aviation Signals Technician with the Civil Aviation Authority, Enugu Airport, I had to keep my plans of further education out of the knowledge of my boss, since I did not plan to study engineering which was my official requirement and condition for my employment.
So, I used my kinsman’s address— Mr. Nduka Eseji from Ogboli Quarters, Ibusa, who was then working with the Post and Telegraph (P&T), Enugu, as my discreet contact address.
I returned from work one afternoon to see a letter slipped into my room from under the door and when I opened it, it was my JAMB letter of admission to study History at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka direct from Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board Headquarters, Lagos.
My decision to study History did not go down well with my father who had wanted me to study mechanical engineering and thus he vowed never to spend a dime for my studies, especially since my uncle Mr. Jerry Nosike Nwaezeigwe who studied History and Philosophy at the University of Maiduguri found it difficult to secure a job. But my mother encouraged me and I consequently continued with my studies.
It came to a point that my Ezukwu village elders had to intervene to compel my father to show concern over my university education, since both my father and mother were like brother and sister, having come from the same village; in addition to my father’s mother coming from the same village.
Infact outside my village, the only other village I have second generation descent is Umuosowe kindred of Umuodafe Village, Ibusa, where my maternal grandmother hailed from.
I had planned to retain my job for some months while studying discreetly without the knowledge of my boss, since having deviated from engineering I was no longer qualified for study-leave.
So, I kept my admission secret for some time, shuttling between Enugu and Nsukka. But it did not take long before the “aku-oyibo Nsugbe” was broken. My boss, Mr. Ukwem Kalu from Ututu in Arochukwu Local Government Area, then the Chief Technical Officer, invited me one early morning to his office and informed me that he called to specifically congratulate me for my admission at University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and that as a father he was advising me to put up application for study-leave with pay and that it did not matter which course I was studying since there are non-technical sections in Aviation Department. I was fooled.
I looked at him speechless for a moment not knowing what to say. Finally, I caved in to his sinister-driven subterfuge. I quickly wrote the letter and brought it to him, which he immediately counter-signed in my presence but noted afterwards that as a technical staff studying history, he was not approving my application and that for the same reason my salary should be stopped immediately; unless I was willing to withdraw my university admission.
When I was informed of his decision, I went straight to him to express my disappointment over his betrayal. He looked at me straight on the face and said young man, I want you to choose right now between going to that University and retaining your job until you decide to study electronic engineering which is what you are being trained by Federal Ministry of Aviation.
I quickly retorted that I was going to the university to study history and not engineering, and immediately walked out of his office.
The question is, was I qualified to study engineering? At my secondary, better still High School level at Anglican Boys Grammar School, Akwukwu-Igbo, Delta State, class of 1980, I was one of the best students in sciences as in acts, and it was on the basis of sciences—Physics and Mathematics that I was employed in the Civil Aviation Department, Signals Section, Enugu Airport, Emene, Enugu, first as Technician-in-Training, and later Assistant Superintendent of Signals-in-Training.
Bitter Seeds of Commodore Ubitu Ukiwe’s Humiliation and Prof Donatus Ibe Nworga’s Radical Wine of Igbo Patriotic
My pro-Igbo activities began in 1986 as a second-year student when I single-handedly protested against the removal of Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe as Chief of General Staff over his comments on Nigeria’s membership of OIC. I had approached Comrade Ubani Chima—then University of Nigeria Students Union President to request that we mobilize the students to demonstrate against President Ibrahim Babangida for disgracing our brother out of office.
His response was that all of them were capitalist reactionary forces and for that reason he was not interested in what happened to Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe. Indeed, it was from that moment I decided distance myself from Ubani Chima and consequently decided to take an individual protest against President Ibrahim Babangida.
I consequently wrote a press statement in my name condemning the humiliating removal of Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe as Nigeria’s Chief of general Staff (Vice President) for taking the side of truth and integrity which I circulated both within the campus and the press in Nsukka town.
Not long after, the State Security Service (SSS)—the present Directorate of State Security (DSS) came to arrest me at the University. But in line with the official orderliness of the time, they had to go through the University administration, who subsequently intervened and decided instead treat it domestically.
I was eventually issued me a query by the Dean of Students’ Affairs, Mr. D. D. Tabansi from Onitsha through the Dean of Faculty of Arts, then Prof Donatus Ibe Nwoga. Prof Donatus Ibe Nwoga who was a celebrated scholar of African literature known for his work, “The Gods as Messengers among the Igbo” hailed from Mbaise, Imo State.
The query was supposed to reach me through my Head of Department, then Reverend Fr. (Prof) Raymond Ikenga Ozigbo from Oraukwu, Anambra State, but it stopped at the Dean’s office.
Just one afternoon after attending two lectures, my Head of Department called me and told me that I was invited by the Dean of Faculty of Arts, Prof D. I. Nwoga as he was popularly known. When I entered, he stared at me for a while and said “young man, sit down.”
I then sat down. He brought out a publication cutting from a newspaper attached to a yellow sheet and said, “Young man you wrote this?”
I was just looking at him in bewilderment because I never understood what he was referring to. He then said, “You wrote something about Ukiwe and Babangida?” At that point my mind was taken aback and quickly I said yes sir. He said come and shake my hand. I got up and took a hand-shake from hm.
He then explained to me how the State Security Service (SSS) came to pick me at the campus the previous day but the university authority refused, telling the SSS that they did not even know the young man they were talking about, imploring them to allow the university deal with the matter administratively.
He said I should not worry and that the query was not my query alone but for both of us and that as long as he lives nothing will happen to me the campus.
He then gave me a pen and a sheet of paper and began to dictate the answer to the query for me, which was about three short sentences I could not remember. He afterwards instructed his secretary to type it, and afterwards handed it over to me to sign right there in his office.
He subsequently counter-signed in my presence with short comments and told me to go, assuring me that as long as he was in the university nobody would arrest me. That was how the matter ended.
Bursting Students’ Demonstration through Operation-Zero-Option Squad and the Ninety Seconds Operation at Eni Njoku Hostel
In March 1988, just before the Easter Break, during my final year, there was violent students’ protest at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. As with the tradition of Student protests those days, all the students of Nigerian Universities in Nigeria decided to mobilize for solidarity protest.
That was when the revolutionary spirit of Nigerian students was at its highest point of spontaneous response to teething national issues.
We were already accustomed to such situations and, each time the Universities would be closed for some periods and the students would be made to pay for the property destroyed in the course of the protests as a precondition for readmission for resumption.
So, when the ABU demonstration began, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife followed; then University of Ibadan, University of Lagos, and University of Benin joined almost immediately, with University of Jos.
These were the original student vanguard-institutions in Nigeria that never tolerated any form of political high-handedness from the Federal Military Government.
University of Nigeria, Nsukka on the other hand led the conservative group; until Ubani Chima and Olu Oguibe emerged as President and Secretary General of Students’ Union respectively, importing their Marxist orientations and consequently brought about the election of Comrade Emmanuel Ezeazu of Department of History as the President of National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS).
University of Nigeria, Nsukka was therefore the Headquarters of NANS leadership.
It was therefore obvious that University of Nigeria Nsukka must follow suit with the President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) coming from there. And as would be expected, the Students’ Union officials together with the Marxist Students group led by Ubani Chima started the mobilization of the students for positive action almost immediately.
What the University authority did was to preempt the demonstration by closing down the school a week before the actual Easter break and ordered all the students to vacate the campus, except those final year-students who wished to stay back.
The problem with University of Nigeria, Nsukka was that while the students of other Universities in the North and West, including University of Benin would march outside the University campuses and move into the streets to mobilize public support and even beef up their rank and file with street urchins, the students of University of Nigeria, Nsukka would devote themselves with the destruction and looting of school property.
It was only at University of Nigeria, Nsukka that the Vice Chancellor’s Lodge was attacked, looted, and set ablaze by the students.
It is also only at the University of Nigeria Nsukka that the University Bookshop, Oba Akenzua and Margaret Ekpo Refectories, Aku Chris Pharmacy and Senator Fidelis Okoro’s Restaurant were looted by the students in the name of demonstrations.
At the end of every process of demonstration and looting the students both those who looted and those who did not loot were sent away and made to pay more than even what were looted by few criminals. Thus, even at the very place the future leaders of the Southeast Igbo were being groomed, the sense of patriotism was not there.
However, when it was time to resume after the break, the University authority was afraid to re-open the University for fear that the aborted demonstration would restart. It was at that point that the Vice Chancellor Prof Chimere Ikoku requested the Deans of Faculties to find ways and means to ensure that the school could open without the feared students’ demonstration and law and order maintained.
The University authority subsequently made enquiries to find out who could counter the strong forces of Emmanuel Ezeazu, Chima Ubani, and Olu Oguibe, and I was eventually approached by my Dean who was then the German-born Prof Edith Ihekweazu and Dean Associate Prof Benson Oluikpe, who later took over from her as substantive Dean.
I gave then my honest strategy which they eventually adopted and appointed me to lead the implementation Committee of my strategy.
The first strategy was to organize internal enlightenment campaign against any further demonstrations in the school among the final-year students who were still on campus and tap from the sentiment of their eagerness and desire to graduate without further obstructions.
Thereafter the school would re-open, and on the resumption date all the Campus Gates should be put under lock and key except the Main Gate, which would be under the control of our squad with official coverage of University Security officials. Only bona fide students of the University with valid identity cards would be permitted to enter the Campus.
This was to forestall the infiltration of NANS executive officials who normally compel the local Student Union officials to obey their instructions.
We carried out the enlightenment campaign from one Faculty to the other with Prof Oluikpe leading, and subsequently instructed the University authority to re-open the school that we were ready for the operation. Every plan moved as smoothly as expected and the University resumed normal lectures.
Meanwhile from the group of the anti-demonstration students five of us—myself, Obinna Uche of Microbiology from Arondizuogu and presently a politician; Obasi Igwe of Linguistics and Nigerian Languages from Akaeze in Ebonyi State, presently practicing Law at Owerri; T. O. C. Okunna of Archaeology from Ukpo in Anambra State who is currently in United States of America; and Okey Nwankwo of Pharmacy from Nibo in Anambra State who is a big-time road construction contractor at Abakiliki, emerged as the core-leaders of Student anti-demonstration group in the University.
We subsequently adopted “Operation Zero Option” (OZO) as our operational code-name. We discreetly continued to monitor the activities of Comrades Ubani Chima, Emmanuel Ezeazu, Olu Oguibe, Joshua Ogadinma, Adewale Adeoye, and Jide Ojo, among other Marxist radical students, in conjunction with the University Security Department headed then by Mr. now Sir Ken Ejeckam from Isulo in Anambra State. Sir Ken Ejeckam later became the Sergeant-at-Arms of Anambra State House of Assembly.
Within two weeks of re-opening the school, the radical group led by Comrade Ubani Chima had stealthily mobilized the students for what should have been the most destructive demonstration in the history of the University, safe for the daring intervention of Operation Zero Option. It happened this way:
One late evening at about 7 pm, I was summoned by the Vice Chancellor to his Lodge by Prof James Okoro Ijeoma, his kinsman in my department. When I got to the lodge I saw the Vice Chancellor, his wife, and the Chief Security Officer trembling with fear.
They asked me if I was aware that there was going to be a massive students’ demonstration that night and I said no. Then the Chief Security Officer briefed me and told me to take a surveillance trip to Zik’s Flats Hostels which was always the starting point of all students’ demonstrations.
When I got to the University Second Gate, all I was hearing was the deafening sound of “soli, soli, soli, solidarity forever”; the demonstration had started already with many students trooping down to Zik’s Flats Hostel to join the bandwagon.
I quickly recoiled and branched off to Mbanefo Hostel where I met T. O. C. Okunna a squad member fully relaxed in his room with talcum powder over his neck and chest like a woman undergoing Omugo (nursing-mother). I alerted him of the looming danger and he immediately joined me.
We ran to Fulton Avenue where Obinna Uche was relaxing with his girlfriend named Lebechi popularly called his Anasi and I quickly alerted him of the danger on ground.
We quickly located Obasi Igwe and Okey Nwankwo afterwards. Obinna Uche and Okey had developed an impoverished canister made from cans of anti-mosquito insecticide which sprays violent flame on ignition with lighter.
It was already getting dark which made the demonstration clothed with unimaginable danger beyond the powers of both the University Security and the little squad of Nigeria Police Force at Nsukka Urban.
Meanwhile, it was during my first year that the students expelled the Police Post in the Campus after setting their office ablaze. So, there was no Police presence in the campus.
Armed with our insecticide canisters we proceeded to the Vice Chancellor’s Lodge and demanded for a car without university inscription.
The only official car in the University without University inscription was the Vice Chancellor’s official car—a light green-colored Peugeot 504 saloon. As he was feeling reluctant to hand over the car to use, his wife quickly ran into the room, brought the car key and immediately handed it over to us.
We then proceeded with the Vice Chancellor’s official car to frontally confront the over two thousand student protesters under the cover of darkness with Obinna Uche—Udojiagu behind the steering wheel.
As we approached, we noticed that the only safe place and right moment for five of us to confront the more than two thousand students that night would be at a Hostel Quadrangle because if we should wait for them to advance into the open campus street our mission would become an outright suicide.
So, we drove just before the hockey pitch, entered the narrow street lying between the pitch and Eni Njoku Hostel and waited patiently for the students to match into Eni Njoku Hostel Quadrangle. Soon after we heard their deafening solidarity songs and earth quaking foot-steps as they trooped into the Quadrangle.
By then it was getting to 9 pm and so the whole place was in full darkness, since electricity supply in the campus was rare. We then disembarked, parked the car carefully and joined the crowd as they marched into the Hostel Quadrangle, discreetly moving closer to the center of the crowd waiting for the right opportunity to strike.
As Ubani Chima raised the microphone and echoed “Great Lions and Lionesses”, we attacked him, with Obasi Igwe snatching the microphone from him. As he raised alarm with somebody almost immediately hitting Obasi Igwe with iron rod on his arm, and before the students could realize what was happening, we released the canister with threatening flames. Immediately there was a state of pandemonium with all the students fleeing towards different directions.
Within ninety seconds, five of us had dispersed the over two thousand students, consequently aborting the mostly dangerous demonstration in the campus instantly that night.
With all the students racing back desperately to their different hostels while some took refuge in their fellow students’ rooms at Eni Njoku and Alvan Ikoku Hostels, we drove back triumphantly to the warm embrace of the Vice Chancellor who had already received the news of what became known as “Ninety Seconds at Eni Njoku”, after the Ninety-Minute Israeli raid at the Ugandan Entebe Airport.
From that moment we became a dreaded force in the Campus for the protection of the integrity of the University. I was thereafter nicknamed “Chief University Stooge” by Ubani Chima and his group; while I referred to him as “Chief Student Stooge”, because definitely every leader must be a stooge to some powers within or without to remain in power.
The next stage became a contest between Ubani Chima and myself over the leadership of the students Union. As would be expected Ubani Chima group propped up from their Marxist radical group Ogbuabo from Ohodo town near Nsukka for President and Joshua Ogadinnma for Secretary General; while I supported Joe-Jackson Egbo from Nkanu in Enugu Senatorial District.
My candidate won the Presidential election while their candidate won the position of the Secretary General.
Before they could invade the equally volatile Students’ House of Representatives, I convinced Mr. Ogbuabo to cross over to my side and with the influence of Students Affairs Department, he was issued a nomination form to contest the House of Representatives Seat in his constituency, which he eventually won through my influence and support of the Department of Students Affairs.
Through the same method, he eventually became the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
With that I virtually took over the Students’ Union from Ubani Chima and his group and began to dictate the students’ Union policy in the campus. That did not go down well with Ubani Chima and his group.
Thus, in apparent rage, they decided to attack me. One afternoon, as I was moving down from my hostel—Akintola Hostel, popularly known as White House, I was tracked down within the open space between the Hostel and old Students Union build in broad day light and attacked by one of my now most trusted friends in the struggle for Nigerian emancipation—Comrade Adewale Adeoye from Ekiti State.
When Comrade Adewale approached me fuming with great rage and immediately attacked me with audacity in broad day light, I was armed with an automatic press and strike dagger which was carefully concealed under my jacket. Surprised by his daring action, I quickly sensed that there could be something fishy about his action since I was alone and isolated from my men.
I subsequently kept calm while he hit me all round, concerned only with the concealment of my weapon, since that could provide him with tangible evidence of my being the aggressor with a dangerous weapon.
When he discovered that I did not react or return the attack he left me and, I quickly ran to the Chief Security Officer and then to the Vice Chancellor who instructed that I should be admitted immediately in University Medical Centre.
Immediately I was admitted in the Medical Centre the news of the attack spread like wildfire in the campus. There was serious apprehension in the campus with expectations of immediate retaliatory attack from Operation Zero Option.
My members came to me immediately I was admitted and said they would take retaliatory action that same night but I pleaded with them to shelve it till I was discharged from the Medical Centre.
Meanwhile Ubani Chima and his group had begun to churn out press releases boasting that having dealt with me, the other members of Operation Zero Option should wait for their turns. Immediately after my discharge from the Medical Centre, we met to adopt our operational strategy for reprisal assault.
We agreed that we should not adopt their barbaric strategy by just attacking them for attacking me but that since they had already boasted of attacking the rest members after me, we should now prop up an attack from them whether fake or real to ally with their threats.
We eventually settled for a self-propped up attack in which one of us would be inflicted with wound and subsequently blame the attack on Ubani Chima group, since they had threatened to do so.
This would then afford us the moral ground to operate with the full sympathy of majority of the students and University administration. With the gallant Obinna Uche—Udojiagu voluntarily electing to be the victim, we resolved to carry out the operation at midnight the following day.
My Department—Crowther Building, then directly facing the rear of University Primary School, later taken over by Department of Adult Education, was chosen as the venue.
The choice of the location was considered because of its proximity to Chief Security Officer’s residence which was directly facing the other side of the school, since Obinna Uche would immediately flee to the Chief Security Officer after the strike to report the incident, while the rest of us would disperse to our various hostels.
Being a student of Microbiology and knowing that he would be the victim, Obinna Uche decided to personally come with a well sterilized dagger that night. With his upper arm selected as the target, I was handed the knife as the leader to strike him. I looked at him steadily with the raised dagger and told him that it is forbidden in my tradition to spill the blood of a relation intentionally and that I would not do it. Immediately Obasi Igwe snatched the dagger from me and gave him two strikes on his upper left arm and immediately blood began gushed out, we all dispersed to various hostels, while he ran straight to the Chief Security Officer’s residence where he raised alarm of attack by Ubani Chima group. He was quickly rushed to the Medical Centre for attention where we all converged later in the morning to sympathize with him.
With the news of the attack spreading like wildfire in the campus, the Ubani Chima group began to panic and immediately began to recoil from their aggressive stances by dissociating themselves from the action.
But with the circumstantial evidence on ground—my assault and their numerous threatening releases, it was impossible to convince the university populace of their innocence.
With the tide of sympathy drifting favorably towards us, we decided to plan the reprisal attack immediately Obinna Uche was out of the hospital.
It was also decided that I should not be part of the operation since it was assumed that I had not fully recovered from injuries inflicted on me. For Obinna Uche who had surface wound in his upper left arm, it was agreed that he should lead the operation with his bandage vividly displayed to attract sympathy and that the operation should take place in broad day light.
I eventually traveled home a day before the operation, which saw Ubani Chima and his group hunted down and beaten up in broad day light. With the operation concluded, peace and stability returned to the campus till we graduated.
The State Security Service (SSS) Suicide Mission at Akintola Hostel
After my graduation I was posted to Rivers State for my National Youth Service where I underwent my orientation program.
Immediately after my orientation I was recalled to the University, with the Vice Chancellor facilitating my re-posting to Anambra State and subsequently back to University of Nigeria, Nsukka to undertake my primary assignment.
I eventually served at the Department of Archaeology as Fieldwork Research Assistant attached to Prof Edwin E. Okafor. But beyond my outward academic duties, I served as a State Security auxiliary through my role as Student Security Assistant to the Vice Chancellor. I was later joined by Obasi Igwe thus making us two.
With Joe-Jackson Egbo still the President of the Students’ Union and Ogbuabo the Speaker of the Students’ House of Representatives, I still had overwhelming influence on the Student body and, for some time there was semblance of stability in the Campus.
But the danger of Ubani Chima’s influence and ability to cause trouble in the Campus was still there with Joshua Ogadinma as the Secretary General of the Students’ Union.
And being that he had more vibrant revolutionary carriage than both Joe-Jackson and Ogbuabo, it required a very close bumper-to-bumper marking to maintain order in the Campus.
I did my utmost best with the support of Obasi Igwe and members of the SSS (DSS) who were engaged on regular surveillance over student activities.
The SSS (DSS) soon found me as a reliable fellow for effective execution of their missions since oftentimes I would reject their strategies for particular operation and bring up my own which often turned out to suit the operations.
In fact, by the time, I was completing my NYSC the then Anambra State Director of SSS (DSS) Mr. Obunseh who took over from Mr. Odeh, invited me to join the Agency but I rejected it because I needed a profession where I would be free to express my opinion without any official hindrance.
Working with State Security is like the profession of Judges. You don’t even have the freedom to comment on national issues as an individual even after retirement. It was in the course of these operations that I was nearly lynched by the students in my former Hostel—Akintola, following a failed operation.
The SSS had received intelligence reports that there was going to be nation-wide demonstrations by the students against the Federal Government.
Indeed, the President of the Students’ Union had already received instructions from the National Union of Nigerian Students (NANS) to mobilize for that purpose but he was reluctant to do so.
For that reason, he was being threatened by the radical wing of the Students’ Union led by the Secretary General. As usual they decided to nip it from the bud by arresting the Students’ Union ring-leaders.
I and Obasi Igwe were invited to lead the operation while the DSS were to stay at the background. The first operation was successful but the second ended in a disaster. Akintola Hostel is known as the “White House” because that is the official residence of the President and Secretary General of the Students’ Union.
Our next operation was to arrest the Secretary General Mr. Joshua Ogadinma. Indeed, the Hostel with its twin Akpabio Hostel which is a three-storey building (Four Floors) is the tallest of all the Hostels in the Campus because of its situation on Hill-Top Slope, just backing the University Medical Centre.
As we approached, the DSS moved into the Medical Centre and parked their car in a state of readiness, while Obasi Igwe and I marched upstairs to the third floor where the Secretary General had his residence.
Obasi Igwe stayed a little distance behind while I proceeded to knock on his door. Unknown to us the news of our first operation had filtered into the Campus and so Joshua was on alert.
As soon as I knocked on his door he raised alarm prompting the students to emerge from their various rooms and, before I could know what was happening I was surrounded by a crowd of Student from both Akintola and Akpabio Hostels.
Obasi Igwe succeeded in escaping immediately to downstairs but he was unfortunate. He was caught and beaten mercilessly to the point of death safe for the quick intervention of the SSS officials who quickly fired a warning shot scaring his attackers away, and immediately rescuing him.
They immediately fled the scene taking him away in their car, while leaving me to my fate.
Infact as they fled the scene, it was concluded that I had been lynched by the students. That was the official report before the State Security Service and Nigeria Police, before my miraculous arrival at the University Security Department from where I was immediately taken to SSS Office in Nsukka in the dead of the night to their utter surprise.
Akintola Hostel was my Hostel and my room was 109 downstairs, directly facing the Medical Centre. So, I was well known there as much as in the Campus. As I stood haplessly surrounded by irate Students who had started pushing me around in preparation for the main action, and papers had started flying from behind on my head, I knew the next object would be stones and hard objects.
I looked up at the crowd and I could only recognize two familiar faces—my cousin Dumebi Monyei from Umuosowe Umuodafe Village, then studying Psychology, and Edozie my room-mate who is presently a Director with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), then studying Geography and from the sister-town of Ishiagu in Delta State.
I saw their faces covered with grim resignation. There was nothing they could do to save me at that moment.
I thought of the next action to take but there was none coming forth. As the papers started flying on my head with intensity and the pushing around became violent, I quickly released myself, fell down abruptly and dived underneath the mob which resulted to many of them falling over me.
As every one of us on the ground struggled to find our feet, I quickly shrugged myself off the crowd, pushed my way violently to the second floor where I saw the staircase blocked in waiting. I then turned back and ran towards the corridor cul-de-sac over-looking the Students’ Union Centre with only the iron protector-railings separating me from the deadly ground below.
As the crowd surged violently towards me, I pooled one leg over the rail protector and before they could get hold of me, I quickly brought the second leg out and immediately released myself from the second floor of Akintola Hostel.
Landing safely as they watched in amazement I took off and ran to the Security Department from where I was taken to the SSS (DSS) Office in Nsukka with the wounded Obasi Igwe.
Meanwhile the Vice Chancellor had relocated to Enugu Campus in anticipation of the planned demonstration which subsequently took off the following day, during which the President of the Students’ Union Mr. Joe-Jackson Egboh and the Chief Security Officer of the University Sir Ken Ejeckam were publicly assaulted by the students, with the students pronouncing me banned from entering the Campus for fifty years.
The consequence of the demonstration was that the school was closed once again for some periods and the students compelled once again to pay for damaged and looted university property as a precondition for resumption.
Nwankwo T. Nwaezeigwe, PhD, Odogwu of Ibusa, Delta State
Is the President of International Coalition against Christian Genocide in Africa (ICAC-GEN) and can be reached on Email: Nwaezeigwe.genocideafrica@gmail.com Website: https://icacp-gen.org
