ABUJA—Aggrieved medical
students of the University of
Abuja have once again stage a
protest over failure of the
authorities to put an end to their
plights and demanded
N10million compensation for
each student for wasted years in
the institution.
The students, who disrupted
activities within the main campus
and environs, barricaded the
highway, disrupting flow of
traffic.
Wielding placards with such
inscriptions as “8 years and still
in 300 level.” Without MBBS
exams since 2005,” the students
said their request to be
transferred to other institutions
as their counterparts in the
affected departments had been
kept in the cooler, saying time
was running out.
The angry students described
their plights as a deliberate move
on the part of the management
of the institution and the federal
government to frustrate their
graduation from the institution.
They also demanded a
compensation of N10 million
each per student of the medical
department for the years
wasted.
The students explained that the
N10 million compensation
evolved from cost incurred by
each student in the past eight
years, including tuition and off-
campus accommodation cost of
up to N200,000 per year.
The medical students demanded
to be transferred to other
universities, complaining they
were tired of the school
authorities, saying they had
been “lying to us, deceiving us,
wasting our productive years.”
The protest, which was largely
peaceful, prompted the
cancellation of examinations set
for thousands of distance-
learning students.
Public Relation Officer of the
university, Mr Waziri Garba, told
Vanguard that a committee had
been set up to investigate the
matter and provide possible
solutions.
Garba said all efforts by the vice-
chancellor of the university, Prof
Joseph Sunday Adelabu, to meet
with the students a day before
the protest fell on deaf ears.
He said students who wished to
be transferred to other
universities had to apply,
stressing that their transfer must
pass through the National
Universities Commission.
Source:vanguardngr.com/2013/06/uniabuja-students-protest-again/