FG sets up delegation on students ordered to leave UK over tuition fees

The federal government has set up a delegation to intervene in the recent deportation order served on some Nigerian students in the United Kingdom (UK). 

Last week, some Nigerian students at Teesside University in the UK were ordered to leave the country as they struggled to pay their tuition fees.

The students protested on their campus when asked to leave after the naira plummeted and wiped their savings, making them unable to meet their financial obligations.

Before they commenced their study at Teesside, the affected students were told they had to show proof of having enough funds to pay tuition fees and living expenses.

The Home Office ordered the students to leave the country after Teesside University reported them, adding that visa sponsorship decisions rested with the institution.

The Home Office also told the students they could not appeal the situation because they were permitted to enter the UK based on their studies at the university.

The students said they tried to negotiate payment plans with the university, but they were ignored.

However, in a statement on Wednesday, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, the spokesperson of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), said the federal government has selected a delegation to visit the management of Teesside University.

He said the delegation will include Christian Okeke, the representative of the Nigerian Embassy in the UK, and leaders of the Nigerian Students Union in the country.

Balogun said the team was selected after a meeting between Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the chairperson of NIDCOM; Okeke; and Yemi Soile, president of the Nigerian Students Union in the UK.

At the meeting, the affected students opened up about their experience at the university while being “optimistic for a positive intervention”.

“A delegation, to be led by a representative of the Nigerian Embassy in the UK, Christian Okeke, leaders of the Nigerian Students Union in the UK, will visit the management of Teesside University to intervene on the allegations of unfair and unjust deportation orders served on some Nigerian students in the middle of their studies,” the statement reads.

“The decision was taken at the end of a virtual meeting held between Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Representative of the Nigerian High Commission UK, Amb. Christian Okeke, Mr Yemi Soile, President, Nigerian Students Union UK, and many of the affected students at the meeting on Sunday.

“The affected students passionately narrated their ordeal and were optimistic about a positive intervention.

“During the meeting, Chairman NIDCOM appealed to the students to remain calm and not to take laws into their own hands while appealing to the university to treat the students with justice and fairness.

“Ambassador Okeke spoke in the same vein.”