By Our Correspondent
Students of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU), Abia State, have protested the hike in the institution’s tuition and other fees.
In what looked like a bottled anger blown open was as a result of various unpopular actions attributed to the high handedness of the University's Vice Chancellor, Prof. Maduebibisi Of Iwe.
Some of the students complained that the VC had made life too difficult for them by hiking fees arbitrarily. According to them, since last session, the VC had increased school fees twice from N45,000 to N117,000.
They frowned at it situation "where students even those that had paid school fees were not allowed to write their first semester examination including final year students because of another policy he just introduced that had to do with capturing."
The students, who moved around the university premises, could be seen chanting songs and waving different placards in a video clip uploaded on X on Tuesday.
“We no go gree o, we no go gree,” the students chanted.
In another clip, some of the students were dressed in black, while protesting the hike in the tuition fees.
Chasing students out of exam halls. An X user @Aniezeofor, who claimed to be a student in the institution, uploaded a separate video clip which showed some university authorities chasing students out of an examination hall.
“This is a video of (officials) of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike, Abia State chasing the students out of examination (hall) for not paying school fees,” he wrote.
“Please, we need help in this school.”
In the clip, some officials of the university, accompanied by armed security operatives, were seen entering examination halls in the institution, apparently to chase students who had not paid their fees out of the halls.
In a yet another clip, uploaded by an X user, Blessing Oluwayemi, some students could be seen being chased out of an examination hall.
Most of the students had what looked like examination answer sheets in their hands as they ran out of the hall.
“Protest ongoing in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State.
“The vice-chancellor (of the school) is literally walking round exam halls to chase out people that are yet to pay school fees,” Ms Oluwayemi wrote on the microblogging platform at about 10:14 a.m. on Tuesday.
University speaks
When contacted on Tuesday afternoon, the spokesperson of the university, Patrick Oparah, said that the students were given adequate time to pay the increased fees but because some of them could not meet up they began to make wild allegations against the management.
“They were fully aware of the consequences of failing to pay their fees,” Mr Oparah said.
“You know in an establishment like this, you cannot please everybody. Not everybody will be satisfied with your policies,” he added.
The spokesperson promised to provide details of the increase in the fees, but did not as of the time of filing this report.
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