Michael Okpara varsity shuts campus over students’ protest

The Michael Okpara University of Agriculture in Umudike, Abia state, has shut down its campus after a violent protest by the students.

Maduebibisi Iwe, the institution’s vice-chancellor, announced an indefinite closure of the institution in a statement on Tuesday.

The vice-chancellor ordered all students to vacate the university’s premises immediately, noting that the directive was to safeguard life and properties on the campus.

NAN reports that a large number of students at the university staged a protest on Tuesday over the refusal of the authorities to allow those who had yet to pay their fees to write the ongoing first semester examination.

The protesters also complained about what they described as “the geometric hike” in the university’s tuition fees.

“This is to notify the public that the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia woke up to experience the violation of the long existing peace of the university this morning,” the statement reads.

“Miscreants took over the university, chasing and pursuing the vice-chancellor, damaging his official vehicle and those of his officials.

“They were claiming that they were not allowed to take their first semester examinations owing to their failure to pay their charges.

“The university’s record shows that 70 percent of the students had paid their charges and were peacefully taking their examinations.

“More than 2,000 were in the queue to pay and register their courses before the miscreants and hoodlums took the stage to cause trouble and disrupt the long-standing peace of the university.”