Fee Hike: Abuja university rusticates student leaders over alleged call for resistance

Details have emerged on how the management of the University of Abuja accused and rusticated two students’ union leaders without being presented an opportunity to defend the allegations levelled against them.

The victims are the university’s Students’ Union’s Directors of Socials and Sports, Igwe Cyprian, and Oladeru Olamilekan, respectively. They were accused of “facilitating and circulating” statements allegedly capable of bringing unrest to the campus.

The university on Friday issued them letters of rustication, declaring them persona non grata on the campus “pending the determination of their case.”

Allegation

The university accused both students of breaching the matriculation oath by allegedly sharing an inciting statement that is “capable of jeopardising the peaceful and smooth conduct of academic activities in the university.”

“By the powers conferred on the vice-chancellor as contained in the University of Abuja Act, he, on behalf of Senate, has directed your immediate rustication from the university,” parts of the letter, read, adding; “Accordingly, you are banned from all university campuses pending the determination of the case.”

Meanwhile, the university’s spokesperson, Habib Yakoob, said the preliminary investigation by the university indicted both students of impersonation and forgery, insisting that they were only ‘suspended’ and not expelled.

But both students have denied any wrongdoing in separate interviews with this newspaper.

Genesis

On 1st May, the university announced a new fee regime, which reportedly increased the old rate by about 100 per cent or more depending on students’ courses of study.

Students across various departments and faculties expressed shock and fear that they may not be able to meet up with the newly announced fees.

Announcing the hike, the university’s vice-chancellor, Abdulrasheed Na’Allah, a professor, explained in a post on the institution’s Facebook page, among other platforms, that with the increase in the cost of maintaining the school and providing a world-class education to students, the institution had no choice but to increase fees.

“My dear students, you will agree with me that getting materials needed for education is one of the most daunting tasks for educational institutions,” he said, adding: “These charges being introduced reflect the serious national inflation and the UofA’s determination that our students cannot and must not receive second-class education.”

He also handed a fierce warning that any student who attempts to use the development to incite violence on the campus will be faced with heavy sanctions.

Mr Na’Allah added: “Finally, I want to appeal to you not to join any gangs that would want to create violence on campus due to the increase in fees.

“The repercussions are swift and merciless. If anyone is caught anywhere destroying anything or simply disturbing the peace of our campus, I promise you I will descend heavily on such a person by showing him or her a way out.”

Students groan

Students across various social media platforms fumed at the decision, even as some of them called for the removal of the vice-chancellor while others suggested a peaceful protest to compel the university to reverse the hike.

Concerned by the development, on 22 May, the Students’ Union’s Director of Socials, Mr Cyprian, called for a meeting to discuss “the way forward.”

In his post on a WhatsApp group page, the student leader asked students to come up with ideas, noting that “he would rather risk his life and admission than see students drop out for their inability to pay the fees.”

“We will be having a meeting tomorrow by 6 pm in regards to school fees. Let’s know our way forward…I need everyone’s idea” he wrote. “I am deeply in pain, many students can’t pay. I hope the SUG president is in this group. I need everyone’s ideas…”

But the meeting did not hold as planned, he told PREMIUM TIMES, saying when he called the Students’ Union’s President, Emmanuel Emitayo, hours before the scheduled time he “didn’t provide relevant information that the meeting should hold.”

Confusion

Meanwhile, a statement purportedly written and signed by the students’ union president, Mr Emitayo, and the Speaker of the Students’ Representative Council, Muhammad Bahar, gave the university a five-day ultimatum to reduce the increment by at least 50 per cent or face a peaceful protest on 29 May.

However, both Messrs Emitayo and Bahar later released a joint statement dissociating themselves from the earlier information, describing it as fake.

Meanwhile, last week, Messrs Cyprian and Olamilekan, both final-year students, received an invitation from the intelligence unit of the security department of the school for questioning.

They told PREMIUM TIMES that they were, at separate interviews, asked different questions about the development.

“I met some officers at the intelligence unit, one of them was identified simply as Mr Abdul. I also met the director of socials who had been summoned before me,” Mr Olamilekan said.

He said questions were raised about the posts on the WhatsApp group and that his phones were checked for contacts. He said the two of them were “made to sign acknowledgment copies of the letters of rustication.”

“The first question I asked them was what I was being rusticated for. Was it about someone that posted on all the university’s WhatsApp groups who I don’t know or did they find anything posted by me? But the man said I should forget about all these things, and that they are used to it and that he is wiser than me,” he explained.

He said they were both held for hours and only allowed to leave when they finally signed the acknowledgment copy of the rustication letter.

“They labelled me, accused me, and rusticated me even when they said the investigation was still ongoing,” Mr Cyprian said.

University reacts

The university’s spokesperson, Habib Yakoob, said the case against the two students was not because of their opposition to the hike in tuition fees. He, however, accused them of “impersonation and forgery” as well as “inciting the students against the management, to disturb the tranquil environment that the university has maintained for years.”

He said: “The students were suspected to have issued and circulated a certain write-up purportedly in the name of the SUG President and Speaker of the university. Interestingly these two officials have denied writing or issuing the statement, and there is no evidence that it actually emanated from them.”

He said preliminary investigations implicated the students, hence the decision for the “suspension pending the full determination of the matter.”

Qosim Suleiman is a reporter at Premium Times in partnership with Report for the World, which matches local newsrooms with talented emerging journalists to report on under-covered issues around the globe.