The management of Ekiti State University has suspended academic activities on campus for a period of two weeks.
The suspension follows a protest by students arising from the increment in the university’s tuition fee and late payment charges.
The university was brought to a standstill on Tuesday from a protest by the students which started around 7am. There protest saw the disruption of academic activities and obstruction of vehicular movement. The angry students protested with placards bearing various inscriptions such as “Late registration fees should be for schools that pay 20k/30k, not for students who already are to pay 200k and above”.
The Public Relations Officer of the students union, Abiodun Emmanuel, said the school fees were originally exorbitant with other charges, so the introduction of late registration fee by the management was another form of extortion.
The Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic), Prof Ayodele Babatope, who addressed the angry students, said the introduction of late registration fee was because of the students’ refusal to comply with the directive to register early for academic activities. He further said the penalty fee was reduced from N10,000 to N5,000 after cries from the student leaders, adding that a lasting solution would be found to the issue.
In response to the protest, all students of the university were instructed to vacate the school premises with immediate effect starting from 11th April 2023. The directive further said no student should be seen within the school vicinity for the next two weeks.
The directive was approved by the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof Edward Olanipekun, on behalf of the university Senate, and announced by the Head of Corporate Affairs, Bode Olofinmuagun, who advised parents and guardians to instruct their wards to return home immediately because any student found wandering around the university premises would be exposing him/herself to risk.
