The National Association of the Nigerian Students, NANS, has called for the dismissal of the commandant in charge of the Army Barracks in Keffi, Nassarawa state.
The student body said the commandant deserved to be fired for allegedly giving orders for the shooting and killing of four students of the Nassarawa State University on Monday.
"The commandant in charge of the soldiers should be dismissed immediately, he lacks professionalism in his call to duty," Ahmed Jubril, the National Vice President, National Affairs of NANS, said in a statement.
On Monday, students of the Nassarawa State University staged a protest against the non-provision of social amenities in the institution. In a manner that has become the norm in quelling protests in Nigeria, armed soldiers were deployed to disperse the protesters. Four of the students were shot dead, allegedly by the soldiers, at the protest scene.
The Nigerian police confirmed the killings but denied that its officers were responsible for the shootings.
The institution was subsequently closed by authorities.
Nigerians, civil society, and human rights groups have vociferously condemned the clamp down on the students.
They described the attack as a flagrant abuse of their fundamental rights including their right to movement and association especially since the protest was peaceful.
Besides the four students that were killed, many other students sustained injuries and are currently hospitalised.
Among the injured students is the President of the Student Union Government, SUG, of the Nassarawa State University.
As at the time of this report, the SUG president was still in comma.
The NANS has scheduled an official visit to the institution on Tuesday, to ascertain the degree of injuries inflicted on its members and the level of damage caused by the soldiers.
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It's a pity that the Nigerian Army, in spite of been rated so high in Africa, continue to show series of lacunas in their main responsibility of providing "real security" to the vulnerable innocent citizens. Provision of security is not brutality and rampant shootings and infringement of their so called "discipline" on people to show there superiority. It's unfortunate that our Army do not get this point. instead of understanding their real nature as human beings first, they keep parading themselves as super-humans over the innocent citizens. For goodness sake, where are the fruits of democracy? when innocent students and human activists are continually brutalized and even killed by these people in uniform because they feel the necessity to exercise their right to freedom of expression and peaceful demonstration? Where are the fruits of a democratic civilian government? When an ordinary driver of a taxi or a commercial bus or an Okada rider is heavily beaten for a little mistake of not automatically coming to a "halt" at the instant command/order of the police man or soldiers on the road? My dear people in uniform, be reminded that we are no longer under the military regions of the past that have hunted our country for so long. Gone are those days, that you do whatever satisfies you to the "broody civilian" just because he is a nobody - I tell you, he is a human being and lawful citizen of Nigeria just like yourself. May be, his chance to live would bring safety to the entire nation: either himself, his words to others or his so called tattered life which would inspire another to something great for society. May be, His child or any one he's trained. In any case, May the souls of these innocent students rest in Peace. May our institutions be inspired by their sacrifice to provide the basic amenities to the suffering students and may their families and friends be consoled.