A part of Ikere-Ekiti community, in
Ekiti State was yesterday taken over by armed security personnel
following a protest by students of the College of Education Ikere-Ekiti
over outrageous tuition fees introduced by the management of the
institution.
Carrying placards of various
inscriptions, the students brought commercial activities in the second
largest town in the state to a halt.
They called on the state governor,
Kayode Fayemi to urgently relieve the College’s Provost, Titilayo
Ogunmola of her appointment for allegedly disobeying his directive that
students would not pay outrageous fees during his tenure.
While the protest was going on, a student was knocked down by a commercial vehicle at Odo Oja Area of Ikere Ekiti.
The development forced the students to
completely block the Ado-Akure road, making it impassable. In order to
ensure that the crisis did not degenerate, the state government,
hurriedly ordered the indefinite closure of the institution.
Some soldiers, who were on their way
to Akure, the Ondo State capital in a convoy of five trucks, suddenly
ran into the students’ protest and decided bring back some order since
there were no policemen on sight. Later, a Chief Superintendent of
Police, Lukman Adejumo led some mobile policemen into the town to
ensure that the protest did not snowball into full scale violence. The
soldiers removed some of the bonfires made by the students on the roads
while the protest lasted. The students called for the immediate
reduction of their tuition fees.
Students insist
The Speaker of the Students’
Parliament, Clement Maduabum said: “We are against the clandestine
introduction of fees by the institution’s authority; it is an outright
deprivation of our rights. We will resist the outrageous increment with
the last drop of our blood.
“The students will not undertake the
first semester examinations which is billed to commence, until the
matter is resolved in our favour. The closure of the school will not in
any way discourage the students from pursuing the issue to a logical
conclusion.” Investigation revealed that new intakes of the college
were to pay as much as N40,000, while the 200 and 300 level students
will pay N39,000 and N29,000 respectively, as against the N20,000 being
paid in the past.
In her reaction, the Provost explained that the authorities of the
institution decided to shut it down to prevent the breakdown of law and
order. On allegation of high-handedness and extortion leveled against
her by the students, Mrs Ogunmola denied saying, “I want to believe
that it is politically motivated if they are now overnight calling for
my removal, I have tried my best to develop the institution as an
administrator and mother.” As at the time of filing this report, armed
mobile policemen were patrolling the streets of the town to ensure that
there is no futher breakdown of law and order.
