Cops 'provoked students'
2007-06-19 14:11
Lusaka - Riot squad officers fired tear gas and arrested dozens of students at Zambia's second largest university for staging violent protests against a delay in allowance payments, police said on Tuesday.
Thirty students were detained at the Copperbelt university on Monday for their role in the protest in which property at the campus was destroyed and some items were also stolen, police spokesperson Mhakeni Zulu said.
"We expect to arrest more students for destroying property," Zulu said.
The students at the state-run university were protesting against the government's delay in paying them meal and book allowances under a bursary scheme for students.
The students blocked some roads in Kitwe, a mining town situated about 400km north of the capital, where the university is located.
Student leader Lee Mudenda told state radio that students had wanted to stage a peaceful demonstration but it turned violent when riot police fired tear gas.
"Students were peaceful but police provoked the situation," Mudenda said.
Last week, students at Zambia's biggest university in the capital Lusaka smashed windows of vehicles and destroyed property during a three-day long protest against a strike by their lecturers.