Police Rounds Up 11 Katanga Students After KNUST Students Went Violent

Angry parents at the Tech Police Station demanding the release of their wards

A MALE student of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi has been hospitalized while 11 others are in police custody after some students had staged a protest in the university on Friday.

Authorities of the university had placed a firm ban on 'Morale', which is popularly known in Ghanaian local parlance as 'Jama' in the university hall, popularly known as 'Katanga', to the chagrin of some male students of the hall.

The students therefore staged a mini demonstration in front of the Katanga Hall on Friday, around 7pm, where the aggrieved students openly sang dirges to publicly display their resentment against the ban.

A group of security men at KNUST, who were said to be acting based on orders from the authorities, allegedly manhandled the students and in the process one student sustained severe head injuries, bleeding profusely.

The injured student was immediately admitted to the KNUST Hospital for treatment on Friday evening, eyewitnesses disclosed to DAILY GUIDE on condition of anonymity.

Eleven (11) other students, including one former student of KNUST, who were said to be part of the demonstrators, were reportedly overpowered by the KNUST security men, who sent them to the Tech Police Station where they were caged.

Parents Invade Police Station
The arrest of the 11 students clearly infuriated their parents and guardians, who reportedly stormed the Tech Police Station on Saturday morning and demanded that their wards and children be released.

The angry parents and guardians argued that their children and wards had not erred in any way to be arrested and caged by the police.

Reports indicated that some of the parents were so angry to the extent that they openly rained curses on the school authorities, whom they accused of maltreating the students, especially residents of Katanga Hall, with the least opportunity.

There has been tension at KNUST this current semester after the school authorities announced that the Katanga Hall, which used to be a male hall, would be turned into a mixed hall to accommodate female students for the first time.

Both past and present members of the Katanga Hall have since registered their protest and urged the school authorities to rescind their decision but to date the situation still remains the same.

Even though it is publicly known that a ban on 'Morale' at Katanga triggered the troubles on campus on Friday, other unconfirmed reports indicated that the conversion of Katanga Hall into a unisex hall might have started the troubles.