Benue State University: VC says students with carry-overs mastermind protest

The students shut the school gate to protest against the management decision about their exams, but VC says students with carryovers were the ones protesting.

Following the protest that led to the closure of Benue State University on Friday, February 16, the Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Msugh Kembe has said the protest was masterminded by students who have carryovers. 

Kembe said the protesting students wanted to frustrate the system because they were not sure they will graduate.

“The protest that took place today (Friday) was masterminded by students with many carry-overs, who are not sure they will graduate and want to frustrate the whole system,” Kembe told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Makurdi.

 

Prior to the protest, the university management had allegedly announced that students who have not paid their school fees would not be allowed to write the upcoming examinations.

Following the announcement, the students reportedly barricaded the entrance gates to the institution on Friday as early as 6 a.m.

Some of the students who spoke with newsmen during the protest said the management's decision is not fair as the state government is also owing their parents.

However, the Vice-Chancellor said the students had no reason to embark on the protest.

“They (students) had no reason to embark on the protest. It is some of them that are behind in their academic performance that staged the protest so as to prolong their stay in the school, and not because of school fees.

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“Citing school fees is not tenable because management explored all available avenues to enable those yet to pay their fees, to write the examination.

“We issued forms for such students to sign undertakings to pay their fees after their examinations, but majority of the students rejected the undertaking.

“Some of them claimed that their parents were civil servants, so we asked them to present post-dated cheques, but the students rejected the idea,”

Examination postponed

He added that out of 25,000 students, only 17,000 registered, while 8,000 were yet to register or pay their fees.

Meanwhile, the school management has postponed its planned session examination which was initially scheduled to commence on Monday, February 19, 2018.

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