BY SONI DANIEL, REGIONAL EDITOR, NORTH
Three students of the Nasarawa State University were yesterday, allegedly shot by soldiers deployed to quell festering protests over water shortage on the campus located on the Keffi-Abuja Road.

The students, who were said to be fatally wounded, were rushed to nearby hospital and their fate remained uncertain at the time of this report..

Eyewitnesses said the soldiers had to be called in to salvage the school from being run down by irate students, who had been coping with water shortage on the campus, when it became clear to the school authorities that the police who were earlier brought in, could not save the situation.

A reliable source described the situation that led to the students’ protest as provocation and insensitivity on the part of the school authority over the water problem, which had been lingering for some time without any response from the school.

The source, who is familiar with the situation, told Vanguard, “In fact, at a point it was the Students’ Union Government, SUG, that was providing water for the students but they could not sustain it.

“What you are seeing today is the product of frustration thrown up by many months’ of managing a bad situation,” the source explained.

On arriving the campus, the soldiers were said to have started to shoot sporadically to scare the rampaging students but they ended up hitting the three students critically.

The Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof Shamsudeen Amali, could not be reached for comments on the development, which had jolted the institution.

Shamsudeen and some other staff are said to have gone into hiding to escape the wrath of the students. Their whereabouts remained unknown for most of yesterday.

The protest led to the complete blockade of the Abuja-Keffi-Akwanga Road, which is the main highway to the Northern part of Nigeria from the FCT.