The students of the University of Cross River (UNICROSS), on Monday, protested the death of their students, who died last week Friday following an auto crash with a truck in the Odukpani Local Government Area of the state.

The students, who protested at the General Hospital, Calabar, were chanting angry songs and became violent, attacking personnel and destroying hospital facilities.

The students, while blaming the hospital for negligence, alleged that their colleagues would not have died if the hospital had not rejected them when they were brought from the accident scene.

The students also took the protest to the governor’s office, where the security agents on duty dispersed the crowd with the use of teargas.

One of the students, Martha Nkom, told BusinessDay that after the crash, two of their colleagues who later died were rushed to the General Hospital but were not attended to due to the absence of doctors.

“There are thirty-three doctors in all the state hospitals across the 18 local government areas.

“The students were rejected because there was no personnel in the emergency unit, and in a bid to transfer them to the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), they died on the way.

“We are angry, and we are here to show our disapproval of a shambolic system that has caused the death of our colleagues,” she said.

However, the government of Cross River claimed that the general hospital did its best and that none of the victims died in the hospital due to its negligence or delays in service but at the scene of the crash.

In a reaction, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Sunday Eitokpah, confirmed the incident, noting that he was at the scene of the event. The police RRO denied that the police shut down two students of the university.

“So far so good; we’ve been able to put the situation under control. Further information will be communicated shortly via an official press release if need be,” he said.

Business Day reports that over 20 students en route from Uyo in Akwa Ibom State to Calabar, on Sunday, were involved in an accident that left four dead, including student leaders and a staff member.