• THE University of Zambia Soweto hostel that was burnt during a riot on Friday night. (Inset) The burned hostel.
Pictures by CLEVER ZULU

By PERPETUAL SICHIKWENKWE-
NINE University of Zambia (UNZA) students who were arrested following a protest over delayed meal allowances are expected to appear in court today.
The students ran running battles with the police last Friday night, which resulted in one of the hostels being burnt.
Two rooms in the Soweto Hostel were completely burnt in the inferno which started when police officers fired a flare missile that landed on one of the beds in the rooms on the third floor of the building through the widow.
Police managed to apprehend and detain some of the rioting students who would appear in court today.
Police spokesperson Charity Chanda said in an interview that the students were expected to appear in court today for plea.
One of the students Lizwe Ndhlovu sustained serious injuries after he allegedly jumped out of a moving police motor vehicle as they were being taken to the police station.
University Teaching Hospital (UTH) public relations officer Mwenye Mulenga said in a separate interview yesterday that Mr Ndhlovu was still admitted to hospital as his condition was unstable.
Mr Ndhlovu was still in a lot of pain but the medical personnel were doing everything possible to help him recover.
In an interview at Lizwe’s bedside at UTH’s ward G02, his mother insisted that her son could not have participated in the riot because he was a self-sponsored student and also ruled out the police claim that her son jumped out of a moving vehicle.
The family of the 19-year-old Development Studies and Economics student was also surprised that a mystery man who first identified himself as a fellow student and later as a police officer attempted to visit Lizwe on his hospital bed at midnight on Saturday.
University of Zambia Students Union vice-president Martin Nundwe said the situation at the highest institution of learning had since normalised.