Students of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) on Monday barricaded the main gate of the institution to protest against alleged extortion by one of the lecturers in the institution, Dr Dosu Malomo.
The students were also demanding that the institution’s authorities should put machinery in motion that would facilitate the conduct of elections into its Students’ Union Government (SUG).
They said that they would not sit for their examinations until the SUG was inaugurated, though the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) learnt the university was yet to fix the date for the examinations.
They also asked the institution’s management to do away with the external security personnel on campus since the school had fully resumed from the strike embarked upon by its Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU).
Malomo, who is also the Acting Dean, Students’ Affairs of the institution, was alleged to have been collecting N500 each from some students under the pretext that he was organising tutorial for them without issuing them receipts.
NAN reports that the blocking of the main gate of the institution by the protesters prevented the members of staff from entering the campus for normal business.
During the peaceful protest, the students demanded the immediate removal of Malomo.
They called for the immediate reinstatement and extension of the tenure of the out-going Dean, Students’ Affairs, Dr Olugbenga Adeyemi.
According to NAN’s investigation, the students said they preferred Adeyemi’s leadership style to that of the Acting Dean.
The Speaker of the Students’ Representative Council, Victor Akinnibosun said there would not be 2016/2017 second semester examinations until the elected members of students’ union government were inaugurated.
The protesters, however, removed the barricade shortly after a brief meeting between the Students Representative Council and the management of the university.
Akinnibosun and Dr Olugbenga Adeyemi jointly briefed the students on the resolutions reached from the meeting. They said that the meeting had agreed to extend the tenure of Adeyemi as Dean, Students Affairs till the end of 2017.
The management also promised to refund the alleged N500 collected from some students for tutorials from Tuesday, July 25, and to conduct SUG election in the next three weeks.
Adeyemi advised the protesters to go back to their hostels and homes in peace and return for normal lectures on Tuesday. He said that he had no issues with the institution’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Kayode Soremekun, or Dr Malomo.
“Let me tell you (students) that in the last one-and-half years that I have occupied the position of the Dean Students’ Affairs, I have been carrying out my legitimate duties as directed by the Vice Chancellor.
“I have no issues with Prof. Kayode Soremekun as well as the person of Dr Malomo. The VC has the right to appoint anybody, any time into any position.
“I want to tell you that the VC gave approval for me to visit six universities in the country to study them for free, fair and credible election as part of processes for the SUG election in FUOYE.
“Parts of the resolutions reached this morning with the management on your behalf were that SUG election will hold in the next three weeks,” Adeyemi announced.
Also, the Public Relations Officer of the institution, Mr Godfrey Bakji said that the management was ready to meet with the demands of the protesters. The gate to the institution was later opened for business around Noon.
However, all efforts by NAN to reach Malomo either on the campus or through his mobile lines for his comments failed as at the time of filling this report. (NAN)