A midnight demonstration against power outage by students of the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS) has led to the indefinite closure of the institution. HALIMAH AKANBI (200-Level Law) and IBRAHIM JATTO (400-Level Zoology) report.
EVERYWHERE was bustling with activities as students of the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS) prepared for their first semester examination. But, following a violent night demonstration by students last Monday, the campus has been shut indefinitely.
The university was closed to prevent further breakdown of law and order.
The students protested what they described as “a total blackout” in Sokoto, Zamfara and Kebbi states, which affected power supply to the campus.
It all started on Monday evening when the generator supplying male and female hostels power stopped working because of non-availability of diesel. There had been no power supply to the campus for days because of the blackout in the three states.
The Dean of Student Affairs, Dr Ibrahim Magawata,visited Jubril Aminu Hall at 7:30 pm to address the students. He explained that the blackout in Sokoto State had increased the demand for diesel, adding that the diesel in the generator had been exhausted.
He said the situation was under control, adding that palliative measures had been adopted by the management, which he said contracted tankers to supply water to the hostels. He also promised that the generator would be restored to supply electricity to the halls.
As promised, electricity was restored a few minutes later. But after 45 minutes, there was another outage, a situation that angered the students, who said the management was insensitive to their plight. They marched on the Vice-Chancellor’s quarters, where they vandalised the VC’s generating set and left the quarters in darkness.
The protesters returned to the campus, beating up female students and harassing their colleagues, who were not in support of the protest.
At 7am the next day, the management directed students on both campuses of the institution to vacate the premises before noon. The management said the protest was illegal and inimical to the peace of the university.
As the information spread, the hostels becamse rowdy. They students hurriedly packed their personal effects before the halls were locked. They gathered in twos and threes, discussing how they would leave the campus.
Students trekked to the main gate of the university, which is more than five kilometres from the school premises, carrying their luggage on their heads.
At 10am, riot policemen and soldiers were drafted to the campus to enforce the vacation order. The security operatives patrolled the campus to ensure that no student was around at the expiration of the deadline.
Students expressed displeasure at the incident, blaming it on the Students’ Union Government (SUG) officials, who they said were not available during and after the protests to contain their colleagues’ excesses.
Usman Tafida, 300-Level Economics, said the lack of information on the situation made the students to go wild.
Another student, Adama Yabo, queried the essence of the union, saying the students’ leaders could not engage the management before the situation degenerated into chaos. “Why should students go on violent protest when we have the SUG in place to talk to the authorities on our behalf? If you look at it closely, it tells us that the students’ union leaders are not doing their work,” he said.
At the time of this report, the lecture rooms and hostels had been locked. There was also security patrol around the campus by the combined team of policemen and soldiers.
Source: The Nation
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