The administration of Benue State University (BSU), Makurdi, has announced that all 200–600 level medical students have been suspended from the institution due to their plans to demolish school infrastructure.
In a statement released on Thursday, Tser Vanger, the university’s Principal Assistant Registrar (Information & Public Relations), revealed this.
Following the announcement on Monday of the one-month suspension of the affected students, the university was recently subjected to harsh criticism from civil organizations, stakeholders, and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
In response to some Nigerians’ worries, the university administration stated that although the students and administration came to an agreement following several discussions, the students then broke their word and decided to boycott classes, leaving the administration with little option but to suspend them.
“And despite the instructors’ widespread criticism of the students, they persisted in having secret meetings and making plans to carry out a larger demonstration that would result in damage.
Security investigations revealed that the students had communicated with outside partners in order to carry out the protest’s next stage.
The statement said, “The Management was left with no choice but to suspend the 200- to 600-level students of the College for one month in light of this and the reports coming from the Security Unit, Students Affairs, and Academic Staff of the College of Health Sciences.”
It claimed that the university administration learned of the impacted students’ covert attempts to impede their academic progress due to various complaints.
“After learning about the students’ concerns, Vice-Chancellor Prof. Tor Iorapuu assigned Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration), Prof. Mike Odey, and other management staff to invite them for dialogue,” the statement reads.
“The discussion persisted, and the students’ only complaint was their request that 200-level medical students be transferred to Block C, which was duly addressed.
On October 25, the day the students chose to start the demonstration following all of the assurances they had received during the day’s meeting, the report was due to the vice-chancellor.
The students marched to the Government House, where they were met by the Chief of Staff, the Commissioner of Health and Information, and the Governor. The Governor asked the students to make a list of their issues and designate a representative to speak with him, but they refused, stating that every student needed to go in.
The statement continued, “At this point, the Vice-Chancellor, who had also met with the students, advised them to return to the campus. The Governor’s aides and other officials left the students at the Government House Roundabout.”
