There was pandemonium as students of the Ekiti State
University, Ado Ekiti, on Thursday marched to the streets to protest N10,000 late registration fee imposed by the management of the school.
The aggrieved students who took to the popular Adebayo
road stretching up to four kilometers carried placards with different inscriptions and green leaves, and also sang anti-management songs.
They also protested against the epileptic power supply in both the school and hostels and entrepreneur fee of
N5,000.
The situation forced motorists to take alternative routes while many commuters trekked long distances.
Efforts by the students to gain entry into the Governor’s Office was, however, resisted by security men, led by the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Taiwo Lakanu.
The police were forced to disperse the protesters with tear gas, but the adamant students regrouped in front of Christ School, Ado Ekiti, where Governor Ayodele Fayose raced to, and addressed them.
One of the students, who addressed the governor but
declined to mention his name, pleaded with the governor
to come to their aid, saying the Prof. Patrick Aina-led
management was making things difficult for them.
The students’ representative also asked the government to address the epileptic power supply, which he said was
affecting them negatively and also stop the entrepreneur
levy imposed on them.
They equally appealed that the school’s porters be re-
opened.
Responding, the governor announced the immediate
reversal of the late registration fee and other levies that led to the protest.
Fayose added, “We must have a start date and a close date for registration. The university must be run outside politics. If you remove the Vice Chancellor, you are sending the university backward.
“The government must not interfere in the running of the
school. The vice chancellor is tenure-bound and we must
allow the system to run its course, I will address the issue.”
The Governor, however, told the students that the
government was not responsible for electricity supply
adding that it was being run by companies.
“But tell your landlords to pay their bills because the
companies said people don’t pay their electricity bills,” he added.
