In response to a student-led protest against increased tuition fees, the University of Lagos (UNILAG) management has reportedly mobilized security operatives to intimidate those demonstrating.
On Friday morning, students gathered for a peaceful protest to express their opposition to the recent, substantial hike in fees. Student leader Femi Adeyeye took to social media, sharing updates on his X account, where he rallied students with statements such as, “Students gearing up to protest at the UNILAG Senate House. Just two days ago, it was the medical students. Protest! Protest! Protest! Don’t ever keep quiet! #FeesMustFall.”
Shortly afterward, Adeyeye posted that university authorities had deployed security personnel to disperse the protest. According to him, the Dean of Student Affairs (DSA) compelled protesting students to submit written statements, and some students’ whereabouts remained unknown at the time of his post. “This nonsense must stop immediately!” Adeyeye declared, condemning the administration’s actions.
Further support for the students’ cause came from the Take-It-Back Movement, which in a separate tweet accused the university’s vice chancellor of threatening to gather personal data on the students involved in the protest as a possible basis for disciplinary action. “@UnilagNigeria DSA, Prof. Obalola, is demanding protesting students provide personal information, claiming a lack of notification for the protest. No student should face consequences for peacefully speaking out. We demand an immediate end to this unjust treatment,” the movement’s statement read.
The protest at UNILAG occurs just days after the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) urged President Bola Tinubu to dismiss vice chancellors at public universities that have imposed unjustified tuition hikes. In a press release, NANS President of the Senate, Senator Akinteye Afeez Babatunde, argued that these increases undermine the impact of the new Student Loan Scheme established by President Tinubu.
The statement called out the administrations of UNILAG, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), and the University of Ibadan (UI) as primary offenders in what NANS described as “senseless actions” detrimental to students.
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