Student harassment signals regional disdain for civic freedom
University authorities have suspended students who protested fee hikes, barring them from class and student union activities in a move criticised by rights groups
Hussain Wahab in Oyo
The University of Ibadan has suspended three student leaders who held up “Fees Must Fall” placards to protest a tuition fee hike of up to 1000%. Their two-year suspension from class and student union activities has been criticised as a dangerous attack on academic and democratic freedoms.
The students – Ayodele Aduwo, Nice Linus and Mide Gbadegesin – protested at the university’s student union inauguration ceremony last July.
University security responded by dragging them from the event, assaulting them and then handing them over to the Nigerian Army. Since then, university management has subjected the students to “bizarre disciplinary hearings”, said Amnesty International in a statement that condemned the harassment.
“We’ve been put under surveillance, intimidated, and ostracised,” Gbadegesin told The Continent. “But our conviction keeps us going.”
“Our universities are turning into centres of repression,” said Aduwo. “If your ideas don’t align with management, you’re treated like an outcast. But this only deepens my commitment to fight for students’ rights.”
Requests for comment from the management of the University of Ibadan, including vice-chancellor Professor Kayode Adebowale, went unanswered.
At Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto last year, a student press outlet was shut down and union elections were cancelled. At the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, student journalists were harassed after reporting on poor hostel conditions.
Yinka Olaito of the Africa Foundation for Young Media Professionals described the suspension as a dangerous signal that freedom of expression was under increasing threat not just in Nigeria but across the broader West Africa region.