UNIBEN Students Stage Protest Over Hardship

UNIBEN Students Stage Protest Over Hardship

Students of the University of Benin’s Ekheuan Campus staged a protest on Saturday morning, blocking the school gate over a prolonged blackout and water shortage.

The action left staff, traders and visitors stranded outside the premises.

The protest followed three days without electricity or running water in the hostels.

Many students said daily life had become unbearable despite paying school fees and other charges at the start of the session.

Another student added that the campus had been without light and water for the past three days and that last night, an unknown person armed with a cutlass tried to enter the girls’ hostel, noting that he inflicted an injury on a student while trying to escape.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the Ekheuan Campus, Professor Adesina Ayinde, met with the protesters and assured them that water would be restored and efforts were ongoing to fix the power problem.

However, the students refused to reopen the gate until water supply resumed.

Sources said the campus generator had broken down, while a backup unit previously acquired was relocated to the main campus in Ugbowo.

Senior officials were still at the scene trying to calm the situation at the time of this report.