…accuse institution of intimidation, suppression of rights
Some students of the University of Benin, Edo State, have lambasted the management of the institution over the recent rustication of five of their student union leaders.
The students accused the UNIBEN management of highhandedness in taking the decision to sack their union leaders.
They condemned the university management’s decision as unlawful, oppressive and partisan.
Last November, the leadership of the Uniben SUG led other students to stage a peaceful protest after the institution’s management increased various fees.
Three of the SUG leaders were rusticated for one academic session, while the remaining two are to stay back at home for two academic sessions.
The affected students were also barred from holding any office on the campus or participate in student union activities. They were rusticated after they had faced the Students’ Disciplinary Committee.
Investigations by our correspondent revealed that prior to their rustication, there was a protest by all students over the harsh condition on campus, which was worsened by increment in accommodation charges and school fees. This culminated in the school authorities sending the students home and suspending the union.
An executive member of the university’s SUG, who pleaded not to be named, said, ”Because we protested over the increment in hostel, school fees and some miscellaneous fees, they chased us out of the hostels, thereby cutting short our semester. They sent us on an unnecessary holiday. We cried out again, they suspended the union. They suspended the man and those who spoke for us; they started persecuting our fearless voices.
“The management also invited them to a panel headed by themselves and accused us of treason. We argued to the contrary, they went back and decided; they eventually came back and rusticated our leaders. This is unfair. We are calling on the Federal Government to wade into this issue, the protest was peaceful.”
Another student of the school, who spoke with our correspondent under the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter, said that the institution’s management was “irrational” by abruptly increasing the school fees.
He said, “Apart from the fact that the hostel fee for returning students was increased from N8,000 to N20,000, fee for fresh students was also increased as they paid N69,000 and N74,000 for both tuition and accommodation fees, respectively. And the most annoying thing is that the management has done nothing to improve our hostels. Our rooms are infested with bed bugs and eight people share a room with no conducive bathrooms or toilets in the hostels. Most of the time, we have our bath outside.
“I am really bothered about the rusticated students for participating in a peaceful protest, as it is both irrational and illogical to victimise five students in a protest carried out by more than a thousand students.”
Another student, who simply identified herself as Obehi, lamented that the school management was oppressive in its approach in maintaining moral and academic standards.
She said, “All we see is oppression by the school authorities. Now, they have successfully banned coloured attachments, painting of nails and usage of makeup, especially red lipsticks by female students. They have also restricted us from wearing skinny jeans and dreadlocks.
“To make matters worse, as I am speaking with you, the intelligence security department arrested some students at Hall 3 for publicly discussing the rustication of our student leaders; they have been taken to the security post. We are not happy, because the school management is intimidating and frustrating us.”
Efforts by our correspondent to get the reaction of the university’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Michael Osasuyi, proved abortive.
Osasuyi did not pick calls made to his phone and he did not reply the text messages sent to him as at the time of filing this report.
