49 students behind bars
2007-06-21 12:13
Lusaka - Riot police in Zambia arrested 49 students from the country's biggest university in Lusaka who attempted to stage street protests against poor sanitation at their campus, police said on Thursday.
"Police arrested 15 female students and 34 males from the University of Zambia," police spokesperson Chrispin Kapela said.
The students said they wanted to march to government offices to meet the education minister whom they accused of failing to sort out their problems at the troubled campus.
On Wednesday, the students began with an indefinite class boycott to protest against poor sanitation at their campus days after staging violent protests, a union official said.
Riot police sealed off the campus and roads leading to the University of Zambia in Lusaka, where students holding the boycott were planning demonstrations.
The protest has been prompted by a decision from the university's management to reduce cleaning staff at student hostels due to lack of funding, students' union official Mercy Nankamba said.
Last week, students at the same university staged violent demonstrations, smashing vehicle windows and blocking main roads near the campus to protest a strike by their lecturers who were demanding better wages.
At Zambia's second largest university on Monday, riot police fired tear gas and arrested dozens of students for staging violent protests against a delay in allowance payments, the police said.
- AFP