The two final-year students of the University of Abuja (UniAbuja), Cyprian Igwe and Olamilekan Oladeru, who were recently expelled by the university over an alleged plan to protest the proposed school fees hike have expressed worry over their predicament and have now taken their case to the National Assembly for intervention.

The duo Insisted that they were unjustifiably expelled and called on the Senate to prevail on the school authority to reinstate them so that they would not continue to suffer for an offence they did not commit.

Both Igwe and Oladeru, who are the Director of Social and Culture, as well as the Director of Sports of the Students’ Union Government(SUG) of the university respectively, were just finished their final year examinations and awaiting results when they were expelled from the school for the same alleged offense.

The school was reported to have terminated its studentship for allegedly inciting other students to go on protest if the school authority refused within five days then, to rescind its decision to increase school fees.

Igwe, in a fresh interview with Nigerian Tribune on Tuesday when asked about the update of the case, recalled that he was forced by the security intelligence unit of the university to sign his rustication letter then as his cell phone was allegedly seized by the security officers and released to him only after he had signed the letter while Oladeru refused to sign his own letter much less collect it.

Oladeru, on the other hand, also again, confirmed to Nigerian Tribune in a separate interview, also on Tuesday, that truly, he refused to collect his own rustication letter because he did no wrong to justify his expulsion.

While they both recollected that they were let out of the school compound immediately thereafter by the school’s security officers with a warning not to come to campus again as students, they noted that since then, which is more than two months now, none of them have entered the school.

They said they are still surprised that the school authority could take such drastic action against them without proper investigations of their alleged roles in the matter.

According to them, two months should be enough for the school authority to have concluded an investigation if truly it is not interested in punishing them unjustifiably.

They emphasized that they didn’t deny that they suggested a meeting should be held by the generality of the students to review the proposed tuition hike but had no knowledge about the purported communique calling for a protest.

According to them, no meeting was held by the students’ union body, let alone a communique issued for students to go on protest.

They said both the student union President of the school, Emmanuel Emitayo, and the Speaker of the Students’ representative council, Muhammed Buhari, had consistently told the school authority that no meeting was held and that they had no knowledge of the purported communique issued on their names calling for a protest.

Explaining further, Igwe said “I have a clean record with the university. Apart from being one of the student union leaders, I have represented the school in many events and competitions from my 200-Level days to my final year.

“So, I and my fellow Oladeru don’t deserve to be treated the way the school is doing to us.”

He explained that was why he has to send a petition to both the UniAbuja Governing Council and The Senate for intervention on behalf of the two of them.

“I sent that of the Senate through Dr Victor Umeh, a senator representing Anambra Senatorial District, where I hail from and he had acted on it, while there has not been any response from the school’s Council up to date,” he noted.

In a video recorded message made available to Nigerian Tribune Dr Victor Umeh, was seeing tabled the petition before his colleagues on the floor of the Senate and the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio directed the Committee on Ethics and Privileges to handle the matter.

Even though, the duo believes in the capacity of the Senate to handle the case, how soon would that be is their other worry more so that the senators are currently busy with the screening of ministerial nominees.

To them, they don’t want to miss the next batch of graduates that will be mobilising for the one-year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme. (Nigerian Tribune)

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