Fee Hike: Student Leaders Accuse Ambrose Alli University Management Of Hiring Hoodlums To Disrupt Protest

Some student leaders of the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State, have accused the institution’s management of hiring suspected hoodlums to disrupt their protest against the fee hike on Tuesday.

Naija News gathered that the student leaders alleged that the hoodlums disguised as members of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) attacked students of the institution who came out to protest.

It was learned that the students were protesting against the Institution’s failure to meet their demands with respect to fee hikes.

In a video captured from the incident and sighted by SaharaReporters, a student of political science was seen narrating how the thugs physically assaulted him at the school gate during the protest.

Speaking in pidgin English, the student said, “Them dey beat me for gate. They say dem be NANS association, I no even know them sef (They beat me up at the school gate. They identified themselves as members of NANS, but I don’t know them).” 

Speaking with the platform, one of the student leaders claimed the attackers were sponsored by the Special Intervention Team (SIT) set up by the state government.

The leader told the platform that ‘‘They came with Hilux that has the inscription of the state government. Some of our students were injured during the attack, and one of my boys got his phone damaged.”

However, the institution’s management has reacted to the allegation, saying, “Nothing of such happened today.”

According to the school’s Public Relations Officer, Otunba Mike Aladenika, it was the students (the disbanded students’ union) who invited National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) members to join their struggle against the school.

The institution’s PRO said, “Even when the major problem of tuition fee increment had been settled, demonstrated that the demonstrators were after something secret,” the student still went ahead to protest.

“The issue concerning tuition fees increment has been resolved, and the school has resumed, normalcy has returned. What is expected of any legitimate student is to pursue their career.

“They are now demanding that the school should reinstate their leaders, but what gives us the assurance that if the school did that, they would not make more demands,” Aladenika added.