Fendall – Stone-throwing students from two rival groups of the University of Liberia on Monday, October 28, kept normal learning activities at a standstill as they clashed for supremacy on the Fendall Campus.
The commotion erupted early Monday morning when students of the Fendall Students Association, (FENSA) tried to stop a band of members of the Students University Party, who were chanting slogan.
The incident prompted some instructors to drop their chalk and run out of classes, while students were left in disarray.
There was no report of major injury although some students complained of being hit by stones flying from both angles.
Following the scuffle, riot police arrived on the campus to put the situation under control.
Mohammed Deygbo, Chairman of the Students’ Unification Party told FrontPage Africa on Monday afternoon that his members were attacked by a group from FENSA for holding political activities on the campus.
He said it was disheartening for FENSA, to attack members of SUP when they are “illegal and not accredited by UL administration.”
“Whenever they see SUP partisan on campus, they will chase them and we are saying no to this because SUP is not in supremacy competition with them. We are already supreme,” Deygbo said.
Deygbo accused FENSA of being a “regime sponsored misguided social club”, which he alleged is seeking “undue relevance” at the expense of SUP.
The SUP Chairman accused FENSA of carrying cutlasses and other dangerous weapons on the campus.
“They went on campus with the intent of harming SUP militants. They hired thugs and took them to Fendall Campus to attack us, and we have to resist them,” Deygbo added.
However, FENSA Chairman Heylove Mark in a mobile phone interview with FrontPageAfrica denied taking thugs on campus.
Mark said his supporters were retaliating to attempts by SUP to brutalize them.
“I was not even on campus when the incident occurred, but the issue is, we cannot sit and allow people to feel that they alone owned the university campus and that certain individual cannot pass to some places,” Mark asserted.
He also accused “militants of SUP” of attacking “militants of FENSA” on three separate occasions, since last Wednesday, October 23, noting that another attack could not sail on smooth ground.
“In student politics like this, the guys are not willing to discuss the real issue. But attacking individual and they are in the habit of coming on campus to attack anyone who is a member of FENSA,” Mr. Mark averred.
“We did not bring any weapon on campus as claimed by them; our boys resisted them from coming to disrupt classes, like what they’ve being doing recently,” he said.
Mark has in the same way promised to ensure that his members of FENSA remain peaceful and is urging members of SUP to do same.