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By Gabriel Dike
The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), yesterday, staged a protest against the recent fee hike by the management of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka.
Ahead of the protest, policemen drawn from different formations in Lagos State, early yesterday morning, took over the main gate of UNILAG to prevent NANS officials and other students from gaining access into the university.
Despite the presence of armed policemen, the students, brandishing different placards, protested the fee hike by UNILAG management.
The armed policemen came in about 20 vehicles and were backed by the institution’s security personnel as well as the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) personnel.
The protesting students, who came from the Sabo end of Yaba to the campus, were dispersed by policemen, who fired teargas canisters at them, but the students later regrouped and moved towards the main gate. The protesting students were stopped from getting closer to the main gate by the policemen who had cordoned off the area.
Speaking on behalf of the protesting students, the President-elect of the Faculty of Education Students Association, Balogun Ibrahim, accused the Area Commander, whose name he gave as Assistant Commissioner of Police, A. Ayodeji alleged that the ACP ordered his men to shoot at them.
In a swift reaction, the Education Rights Campaign (ERC) condemned the Lagos State Police Command for disrupting a peaceful protest by the students. The group confirmed that four protesting students were arrested by the Lagos State Police Command and demanded their unconditional release.
A statement signed by the ERC Deputy National Coordinator, Isaac Ovunjimi, and the National Mobilisation Officer, Michael Lenin, named the three students arrested as Comrades Giwa Topnotch (National Public Relations Officer of NANAS), Femi Adeyeye, Philip Olatinwo and Ayodele Aduwo, and demanded their release.
“The police should be reminded that protest is a right guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as well as the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights. Also, the Supreme Court pronouncement on the case of All Nigeria Peoples Party & Ors. v. Inspector General of Police (2006) CHR 181 has already settled the controversy over whether or not police permit is required for a protest,” ERC noted.
The group described the arrest as a violation of the activists’ fundamental human rights, adding, “we stand by the protest over which the activists were arrested. The protest was over the decision of UNILAG authorities to increase payable fees of students from N19, 000 to as much N190, 250, depending on the course of study.”
ERC explained that the protest was called because the UNILAG management rebuffed efforts to resolve the issue without protest or demonstration. The ERC said a team of students’ representatives, led by the Public Relations Officer of the National NANS, Giwa Topnotch, met with the Vice Chancellor and her team on August 2, 2023, where the fee hike was discussed and students’ representatives presented their arguments against it.
“Unable to controvert students’ arguments, the VC appealed for time to consult with other members of the management team and that she would reconvene the meeting to give feedback to the students’ representatives,” Giwa said.
The group revealed that the VC refused to reconvene the meeting while the university had continued to send messages to students to intimidate them to pay the fees even though their representatives were still in discussion with the authorities.
ERC reiterated the demand for reversal of the hiked fees in UNILAG as well as all fee hikes across the country, stating, “we demand proper funding of public education and democratic management of schools.”
