Date: 2021-04-14

Students of Kwara State University (KWASU) Malete, on Monday, came out in their numbers to express their grievances against school management over alleged extortion and poor condition of the school hostel.

The protest, which started around 8 am at the school entry gate, to the main gate, saw the students blocked passage and disrupted academic activities.

The students also carried placards with such inscriptions as, "We say no to KWASU extortion; no to the poor condition of school hostels, No to lack of proper and conducive environment, We say no to harassment of students by academic and non-academic staff; no to increment of hostel exemption fee from 5k to 20k," among others.

Speaking with the Tribune Online on the development, the university spokesperson, Mr Razak Sanni, said that the school has only decided to stand strictly by what the policy in accommodation says, "because we discovered that students don't want to stay in school hostel again and only want to just pay exemption fee and not stay in the hostel."

Mr Sanni, who debunked the report that the school was closed because of the protest, said that the students' protest was prevented from getting out of hand on time.

"Students actually protested, saying that the school has increased the exemption fee for not staying in the school hostel. We are now saying that we don't even want any monetary involvement as regards hostel accommodation. We now want to stand strictly by what the policy says because we discovered that students don't want to stay in the school hostel again and only want to just pay exemption fee and not stay in the hostel.

"The increment in the exemption fee is just to discourage them from staying off-campus and be forced to stay in school hostel where we can monitor them properly. But as it is now, we're now saying there's no more payment, be it N20,000 or N10,000 or whatever. We're not taking any money any longer. Pay for school hostel accommodation and stay in the school hostel. That's what the policy says for final and fresh students.

However, the exemption is for examples, nursing mothers who can't stay away from their children, or wives who have to be at home with spouses or those who have proofs of serious medical impairment that would prevent them from staying alone. However, no there is no financial attachment to the policy any more. That's why they protested,' he said