UCC rusticates 22 students over ATL, Oguaa hall clashes

Twenty-two students of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) have been rusticated for their inability to ensure peaceful celebration of their hall week at the university.

Mostly members of the executive of the Atlantic Hall of the university, the rusticated students are to stay at home for two to four semesters for their various roles in the violence that resulted in the destruction of the university’s property and injury to some students.

They are Mr Enoch Abeiku Bart-Plange Tawiah, Bachelor of Education (Management); Ms Rose Attah, Bachelor of Commerce; Ms Mabel Anokwah, Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting); Mr Benjamin Sarfo, Bachelor of Commerce, and Mr Fred Appiah, Bachelor of Commerce (Finance).

Others are Mr Teddy Agyei-Darko, Bachelor of Commerce; Mr Lawrence Adu, Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting); Mr Collins Kaninge Sunglayeng, Bachelor of Education (Basic Education); Ms Mary Adu, Bachelor of Science (Nursing); Mr Michael Hamoulton Bada, Bachelor of Management Studies; Mr Seth Osei Amoah, Bachelor of Education (Management); Mr Raphael Oteng Ahenkorah, Bachelor of Arts (Social Sciences); Mr Patrick Owusu, Bachelor of Arts (Social Sciences); Mr  Godfred Nana K. Ogoe, Bachelor of Education (Arts), and Prince Atta Senior Sarfo, Bachelor of Education (Social Sciences).

The rest are Ms Francisca Nyamekeh, Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood Education); Mr Peter Amoah Donkor, Bachelor of Arts (Social Sciences); Richmond Adobe, Bachelor of Education (Mathematics); Mr Sekyere Quansah, Bachelor of Arts (Social Sciences); Mr Richmond Owusu Sekyere, Bachelor of Arts (Anthropology); Ms Ruby Dela Nutor, Bachelor of Arts (Social Sciences), and Mr Ferdinand Odame Kusi, Bachelor of Education (Mathematics).

According to the Public Relations Director of the university, Major Kofi Baah Bentum (retd), the rusticated students had pledged in a memorandum to ensure that their hall week celebration would be incident free.

"The punishment is not because they were involved in the violence that occurred but the students are taking responsibility for the violence that occurred,” he said.

The violence

Last March, 10 people were left injured as a result of a clash between students of the UCC and some students of the University of Ghana (UG) and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

The riots are said to have begun when visiting students of the UG and the KNUST, as well as some students of the Atlantic Hall of the UCC, wanted to enter the Oguaa Hall.

The students of Oguaa Hall prevented them from entering the hall and, in the ensuing melee, the rampaging students vandalised some rooms in the hall, and smashed the windscreens of the Oguaa Hall bus and some vehicles parked in the vicinity.

One student who sustained a spinal cord injury after he had been stabbed several times in the spine was referred to the 37 Military Hospital in Accra.

An administrator of the UCC, Mr Ebenezer Donney, who had gone to help control the situation, was also injured in the disturbance.

Related: UCC, visiting students clash,10 injured

Another person, an electrician, Alhassan Inusah, who had gone to the university to visit a brother living near the university was also attacked by a group of students who thought he was one of the visiting students.

The authorities of the UCC promised to surcharge the students found culpable after the police had concluded their investigations.

A doctor at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, Dr David Walawah, said one of the affected students might never be able to walk again.

The 22 students were invited by the police for questioning and later granted bail.

Mr Baah Bentum said the university would not condone any violence among students but ensure that students were held responsible for their actions.