By Charles Adegbite and Oluseye Ojo
FOLLOWING a two-day protest by students of the University of Ibadan (UI), the management has closed the institution until further notice.
The decision, according to a press statement issued by the university’s Registrar through the Director of Public Communication, Mr. Olatunji Oladejo, the decision was to avert threat to lives and property.
The students embarked on peaceful protests and for tow days, closed the university entrance, beat drums and sang solidarity songs to air their grievances over alleged epileptic power supply and poor water supply which they said made life extremely difficult for them on campus.
Academic activities were paralysed while administrative work within the campus was skeletal. Most people who could not engage commercial bike operators trekked to their various destinations.
When Daily Sun visited the Students Union building, no executive memberwas available to talk.
he students allegedly shut down vehicular movement within the university community for the two days over the suspension of a union leader by the Student Disciplinary Committee, lack of power and water supply. The protesters reportedly chased off other students off lecture rooms with canes. They also barricaded all entrances to the university.
The Registrar and Secretary to Governing Council of the institution, Mr. Olukoya, in a statement release yesterday said “some students of the University of Ibadan, and persons who claimed to be members of National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), South West Zone from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Federal College of Education (Special), Oyo, The Polytechnic, Ibadan, Federal Cooperative College, Eleyele, Ibadan, Federal College of Agriculture, Moor Plantation, Ibadan and Federal School of Statistics, Ibadan, are determined not only to disturb the much cherished peace and tranquility on campus, but to threaten the lives and property of the entire University community.
Daily Sun gathered that a student of the Department of Petroleum Engineering of the university, Mr. Tunji Epeti Michael, was rusticated for a semester by the Student Disciplinary Committee with effect from March 30, 2016.
According to Oladejo, Michael should have been on industrial training programme in Port Harcourt and was not supposed to be on campus on November 19, 2015. He was said to have led a protest on that day in respect of electricity failure on the campus. The committee was said to have found him guilty of leading the protest
“The letter, which conveyed the decision to rusticate him for one semester, did mention the due process of appeal, namely: to appeal against the decision through the Registrar to the University Governing Council within 14 days of receipt of the letter.
“Rather than follow this laid down procedure, NANS JCC, South West Zone claimed that it gave the University of Ibadan Authorities an ultimatum to rescind its decision.”