Following the protest by students against the increment of school fees in the early hours of Tuesday, the management of Michael Okpara University, Umudike, Abia State has shut down the institution indefinitely.
This was contained in a statement by the Vice Chancellor of the school, Prof. Maduebibisi Iwe.
The statement read in part, “This is to notify the public that the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike, Abia State woke up to experience the violation of the long-existing peace of the university this morning.
“To safeguard life and properties on campus, the university management has on behalf of the Senate ordered an indefinite shutdown of the university indefinitely.”
The school management advised all the students to vacate the university premises immediately or no later than 5.00 pm on Tuesday, February 6, 2024.
A viral video seen by our correspondent on Tuesday evening shows some policemen parading the school premises with vans and shooting into the air at the main gate to disperse the protesting students causing chaos.
This act caused some market men and women to flee from their market stands causing them to leave their goods and run for their lives while the shootings continued.
Some miscreants were said to have hijacked the protest thereby destroying some of the school’s properties including carrying out an attack on the VC’s official vehicle and other officials.
Speaking in an interview with our correspondent, a computer science student identified simply as Victoria said that the school had insisted that students would not be allowed to write the first semester examinations if they do not pay up the recently increased tuition fees.
“They didn’t allow us to write our final year exams as well except we paid up the school fees”, she said.
Meanwhile, the Student Union Government General Secretary, Enyioma Godslove, has in a statement appealed to the protesting students to shun violence, saying, “Continuous destruction of things and also hurting of our fellow students wouldn’t solve the problem.”
“I have taken it upon myself to plead on behalf of the Students Union Government for peace to prevail as we await the best thing to be done”, he stated.
