Gov. Orji shuts down ABSU over protests

Date: 13-10-2012 11:29 pm (11 years ago) | Author: kahamde
- at 13-10-2012 11:29 PM (11 years ago)
(f)
Lock the school gates and get me my school keys” – Gov. Orji shuts down ABSU over protests

by Stanley Azuakola
 
Abia State University experienced a serious crisis situation this week. And perhaps fittingly, the situation which erupted as a result of a proclamation by the state governor, Theodore Orji, has been stayed for now, due to another proclamation of his.
 
The genesis of the matter was an order by Gov. Orji that students who had not paid their school fees should not be permitted to sit for the semester exams.
 
His “no fees, no exams” declaration did not go down well with the students, especially those in their final year, who would automatically have an extension of their degree program, if they do not write the exams.
 
According to a YNaija correspondent, the governor carried out his threat and students who had not paid were prevented from writing the exam. That first day of the exams, the excluded students staged a protest.
 
The desperation got to them by the second day however, and the protest turned markedly violent. The students went on a rampage, damaging and vandalizing school property. They set up a bonfire and burnt the picture of the governor which was placed at the school’s main gate.
 
Lecturers unsure and afraid that the student rage might get more violent escaped, including the vice-chancellor who allegedly fled via an untarred road leading to the Expressway.
 
That was the final straw for the governor, who ordered military men into the school. The soldiers chased students away from the university’s hostels.
 
According to a YNaija correspondent at ABSU, a bus conveying some of the chased students was involved in a car crash. No death was recorded as the students were taken to the hospital.
 
Some of the students who were chased also spent that night at the school’s car park. One of the soldiers who spoke with our correspondent, said that the governor gave orders for the soldiers to “lock the school gate and get him his school keys.”


Posted: at 13-10-2012 11:29 PM (11 years ago) | Upcoming
- Shegzan at 22-10-2012 06:42 AM (11 years ago)
(m)
Kk

Posted: at 22-10-2012 06:42 AM (11 years ago) | Gistmaniac
Reply