Ex-militants studying at the Benson Idahosa University (BIU), Edo State, under the Presidential Amnesty Programme may lose their studentship due to the non-payment of their tuition and allowances.
The ex agitators have, however, staged protests within and outside the premises of the university over their plight.
The ex-agitators, who chanted solidarity songs, had last week barricaded the school gate and disrupted academic and non-academic activities in the institution for several hours.
On Monday, however, they took their protest outside of the premises of the university to the streets of Benin including the Edo State government house and the premises of the Edo State secretariat of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Benin.
Spokesperson for the protesters, Preye Noel, said beneficiaries of the amnesty programme had been studying under frustration without the allowances.
“We want to tell the world that a hungry man is an angry man. For several months, our monthly stipend and school allowances have not been paid.
“We are aware that our tuitions have not been paid to the management of the university. But we have been receiving lectures and writing exams in hunger.”
The protest has however, not gone down well with the management of BIU, that described the demonstration as a violation of the school’s rules and regulation.
Vice-Chancellor of university, Prof Ernest Izevbigie, said that the management of the institution had commenced a joint investigation with the office of the Presidential Adviser on Amnesty Programme to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the protest.
Izevbigie, who spoke during a press briefing, said the university would not tolerate students taking the law into their own hands.
He said though no student or staff was injured during the protest, tyres belonging to the university were burnt.
He said, “Regardless of the number of months for which they have not been paid, it is not sufficient for anyone to disturb the peace or act in a very inappropriate way. We will leave no stone unturned. We will get to the bottom of this.”
“Demonstration is a violation in the university. If you have any concern, there is a process. They (protesters) have access to the dean of students’ affairs.
“We have that management-students forum and they have utilised that mechanism on several times. They had that opportunity but chose not to; so that is a violation.
“For them to have secured the gate, they prevented people who wanted to leave or come. That itself is a serious offence.”
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