The authorities of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Osun State, Nigeria has closed down the institution indefinitely following persistent violent demonstration by the students which had paralyzed academic activities.
It was gathered that seven security personnel of the institution were abducted by the students.
The students on Wednesday were directed to vacate the campus and their halls of residence with immediate effect while the matriculation ceremony scheduled for the same day had been postponed indefinitely.
The university officials had in the past three days prevailed on the students to stop the demonstration embarked upon over increase in the university acceptance fees from 2,000 to 20,000 and the alleged imposition of N1,600 Tertiary Health Insurance Scheme on all the students of the institution.
Speaking on the development, the Vice Chancellor, Professor Michael Faborode said, no institution can continue to tolerate criminal excesses of the students which had posed danger to its existence and safety of lives and properties of staff and students of the institution.
Faborode who spoke through the image maker of the institution, Mr. Abiodu Olanrewaju said, the N20,000 acceptance fees paid by fresh students should not be a license for students to embark on massive demonstration, saying that other fees charged by the institution remained what they were for the 2009/2010 session.
He said, even students in the Faculties of Basic Medical Sciences, Clinical Sciences, Dentistry and Pharmacy paid only N12,800 this session while students in other faculties paid amounts ranging from N5,000.00 to 10,000.00 respectively.
The Vice Chancellor noted that the university rules and regulation and the matriculation oats taken by the students did not give room for abduction and hooliganism, saying that no student under any guise had a right to either kidnap or abduct any member of the university community.
Story by Blessing Ogedengbe
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