Two expelled students of Delta State University, Abraka, JOY ENAOHWO AND OJEAH OBIAJULU have written a petition to the state house of assembly through their solicitors claiming that they were unjustifiably expelled from the university.
In their petition they claim victimisation by their head of the Department, Fine and Applied Art, Dr U.N.O Edewor.
The petition was presented yesterday during plenary by the member representing Ethiope East Constituency HON (CHIEF) EVANCE OCHUKO IVWURIE.
After the prayers the house directed the House committee on Public Petition to look into the merit of the Petitions.
For the full story on how it happened read their petition below:
23rd February, 2017.
The Rt. Hon. Speaker,
Delta State House of Assembly,
Okpanam Road,
Asaba,
Delta State.
Dear Sir,
PETITION AGAINST DR U.N.O EDEWOR AND THE VICE CHANCELLOR OF DELTA STATE UNIVERSITY: A DEMAND FOR THE IMMEDIATE REINSTATEMENT OF TWO FEMALE STUDENTS, ENAOWHO JOY AND OJEAH OBIAJULU SILVER, WHO WERE UNJUSTIFIABLY EXPELLED FROM THE DELTA STATE UNIVERSITY.
The above subject matter refers.
We are Solicitors to ENAOWHO JOY (FOA/13/14/220090) and OJEAH OBIAJULU SILVER (FOA/13/14/219517) on whose behalf we write.
Sir, we are constrained to bring to your attention and indeed seek the urgent intervention of the Delta State House of Assembly, being Legislative arm with a view to obtaining justice for the aforesaid two female fine art students of the Delta State University who have been made victims of oppression and highhandedness by their lecturer and the university management led by the Vice Chancellor. It is also important to draw your attention to the issues herein contained considering that they are capable of damaging the fabric of tertiary education in the state, if not curtailed.
The gravamen of the case of the aforesaid two female students is to the effect that both of them are 300Level Students of the Delta State University, studying Fine and Applied Arts. Both of them sat for course FAA 211 Drawing Examination on the 20th of July, 2016. They wrote the examination peacefully and submitted their scripts in accordance with the relevant rules and regulation of the Delta State University. There was no incidence of examination malpractice of any sort relating to them and they had no issues, whatsoever, with the Invigilators for the examination. They also filled and signed the attendance sheet for the examination as required of them.
However, a day after the examination was written, the course lecturer and Head of the Department of Fine and Applied Art, one Dr U.N.O Edewor phoned and invited one of them (Enaowho Joy) to come to his office immediately, to which she complied. Upon her arrival Dr Edewor alleged that she and her friend, Ojeah Silver engaged someone to write the examination for them. The student was surprised at the allegation and vehemently denied same. She sought to know from Dr Edewor the grounds for the allegation or any proof for his allegation but he could not provide any. It is instructive to note that the said Dr Edewor was not present at the examination hall and there is no report by the Invigilators of the examination regarding any incidence of examination malpractice against the two female students to support the allegations made by Dr Edewor.
In spite of his absence from the examination hall or any report from the Invigilators to rely upon and notwithstanding the lack of evidence to support his spurious claims, Dr U.N.O Edewor flagrantly abused his position as the Chairman of the Examination Malpractice Disciplinary Committee of the Delta State University and phoned Enaowho Joy again to come back to his office the same day, which she did. He then issued her with two letters of invitation to appear before the Examination Malpractice Disciplinary Committee the following day. He also instructed her to give the second letter to her friend, Ojeah Silver.
The next day, being two days after the examination, the two female students (Enaowho Joy and Ojeah Obiajulu Silver) duly appeared before the Examination Malpractice Disciplinary Committee. Amazingly, the panel was chaired and presided over by Dr Edewor himself. In fact, he was the only one amongst the panellist who spoke throughout the proceedings; the other panellists were practically onlookers. He accused the two students of engaging someone to write the examination for them. No evidence was presented, the source of the information relied upon by him was not disclosed, no witness was called, no reference was made to any malpractice incidence or any report showing the two girls were caught indulging in examination malpractice etc.
The two students denied the allegations and narrated how they prepared for and wrote the examination by themselves, including the fact that they duly signed the attendance register for the examination but Dr U.N.O Edewor whose mind was made up ahead of time would have none of it and so he entered a guilty verdict against the two students upon which they were allegedly expelled from the University. The two students were later informed of their expulsion via a publication on the University’s website.
It is important to note that at the committee hearing, Dr Edewor played the role of the Complainant, Prosecutor (in actual fact Persecutor) and the Judge over the matter and by so doing violated a fundamental tenet of natural justice which in latin is stated thus: “Nemo Judex in causa sua”, meaning no man shall be a judge in his own case. He also violated the second principle of fair hearing which is also stated in latin thus; “Audi alterem patem”, meaning listen the other side. The Committee hearings were actually a charade, put up by Dr Edewor to give effect to his heinous motives of inflicting injustice on the two students. In effect, the two students were denied fair hearing.
It is unacceptable for Dr Edewor to preside over a matter where he is the complainant/accuser. These actions of Dr Edewor are condemnable, unacceptable in a citadel of higher learning and constitutes an affront against the constitutionally guaranteed right of fair hearing enshrined In Section 36 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The likes of Dr Edewor must not be allowed to continue to hide under the cover of “Mr Lecturer” and Examination Disciplinary Committee to perpetuate injustice against innocent students.
Sir, having regards to the foregoing, the following questions naturally comes to mind, namely;
i. What is the identity of the person (s) alleged to have written the examination for the two students?
ii. Since Dr Edewor was absent from the examination hall, who were the witnesses that saw another person(s) write examination for the two students?
iii. Why was the person(s) not apprehended in the examination hall?
iiii. Why were the students not made to fill examination malpractice and irregularities form in accordance with the rules of the University?
v. Why is there no Invigilator’s report indicting the students for examination malpractice?
vi. Why will Dr Edewor who is the Lecturer for the Course, Head of Department and Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee play the role of the Complainant, Prosecutor and the Judge in the same matter? Could it be that he has a personal and hidden agenda against the two students or even one of them?
vii. How did Dr Edewor discover that someone wrote the examination for the two students?
viii. Who is actually the Chairman of the Delta State University Examination Malpractice Disciplinary Committee Chairman? How many members are in the committee and who are they? Can a single member of the committee indicts a student, issued and signed invitation letters to the student and then presides over the hearing for the same matter, all within two days? Does that not give room for real likelihood of bias against such a student?
ix. Under the Delta States University Rules and Regulation, can a single lecturer phone a student at home, direct her to come to his office immediately, give her a letter directing her to appear before the Examination Malpractice Disciplinary Committee the following day and then summarily try and expel the student from the University within two days after the examination?
x. Between the Dr Edewor and the Vice Chancellor, who bears the responsibility of remedying the injustices inflicted on the students and assuaging them for the setback in their studies?
xi. How many other students of the Delta State University have fallen victim of this sort of injustice meted to the two female students in this case?
xii. How many other lecturers and Head of Department are there in the Delta State University similar to Dr Edewor who are victimising innocent students and causing untold hardship to their families and Nigerians at large?
xiii. Is Dr U. N. O Edewor not an embarrassment to the Delta State University?
It is no doubt a wonder that the identity of the person(s) allegedly engaged by the two female students has remained a mystery till date and the source of Dr Edewor’s information has never been disclosed, yet the two female student’s studies are being truncated over allegations that cannot be substantiated.
It is also noteworthy that Dr Edewor’s actions and the procedure leading to the arbitrary expulsion of the two female students falls short of the established rules and regulation of the Delta State University for Examination malpractice which requires that;
a. A student caught engaging in examination malpractice is made to fill the examination malpractice form on the spot.
b. The Chief Invigilator is then required to submit a written report to the Dean of the Faculty.
c. On receipt of the Report, the Dean is required to promptly investigate the alleged malpractice and within one week forward a report/recommendation to the Student’s disciplinary committee.
The foregoing is the laid down procedure for examination malpractice and disciplinary action contained in the Delta State University Student’s Information Handbook (see page 296-297). Curiously, this procedure was not followed and what Dr Edewor did is nothing but a sham and same ought to be reversed immediately for the sake of justice, fairness and equity. Not to reverse it is to endorse and enthrone oppression, arbitrariness, wickedness and insensitivity to the plight of our young ones, which if allowed to continue, is capable of throwing the university system into chaos and capable of endangering not only the future of our youths but the institution of higher learning itself and ultimately the future of our dear state.
Sir, in view of the foregoing, it must be stated in very unequivocal terms that the expulsion of the two female students, Enaowho Joy and Ojeah Obiajulu Silver, from the Delta State University is unjustifiable, unlawful, unconstitutional, unsustainable, indefensible, arbitrary, oppressive and unacceptable. No one has the right to jeopardise the future of others on baseless and spurious allegations.
We therefore demand that the said expulsion be set aside with immediate effect and the students be reinstated forthwith. They ought to be in 400level right now having completed their 300level and thus we demand that they be reinstated to the class where they ought to be now, in such a way that they must graduate with their classmates who are currently in 400level. This is the only way they can be assuaged.
We state that Dr Edewor is an embarrassment to the Delta State University. Thus, we accordingly demand that Dr Edewor be thoroughly investigated and appropriate sanctions be meted to him for perversion of justice, for putting the university in a bad light and for being an embarrassment to the Delta State the University. This we believe would serve as a deterrent to other lecturers who have been indulging in or who may want to indulge in similar illegality and abuse of office in the University.
Thankfully, the Delta State House of Assembly enjoys oversight powers over the executive arm of government, inclusive of the Delta State University. We therefore respectfully urge you Sir, to use your good offices to intervene in the matter with a view to setting aside the unjustifiable expulsion of the two female students and have them reinstated forthwith.
We thank you.
Yours faithfully,
Oviemuno Obobolo Esq.
Principal Counsel.
CC:
1. His Excellency, the Governor of Delta State.
2. The Honourable Chairman, Delta State House of Assembly Committee on Education.
3. The Honourable Member Representing Ethiope East Constituency, Delta State House of Assembly.
4. The Honourable Commissioner for Higher Education, Delta State Ministry of Higher Education, Asaba, Delta State.
More details to follow soon

http://campusthree.com/expelled-delsu-students-in-search-of-justice-writes-a-petition-against-the-vc-and-their-hod-demands-for-immediate-reinstatement/?preview=true

This lecturer just shot himself on the foot. The whole systems pertaining to the processes of the students' expulsion is indeed questionable. This will inturn be the "hunter being hunted"

Hmmmm

hmmmm