“Students’ Protest Is A Ploy To Remove Me” – UNIPORT VC
The Vice Chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt, Prof. Ndowa Lale, has said that the protest carried out by the students of his institution, which led to the death of a student was a ploy to remove him from his current position.
Lale made this claim on Tuesday when the Acting Commissioner of Police in Rivers State, Mr. Mobolaji Odesanya, visited UNIPORT to ascertain the level of damage in the institution during Monday’s protest.
The students had demonstrated against the institution’s policy of ‘No fee, No exams’, a development that led to the killing of one of their colleagues.
The vice chancellor explained that he was suspecting that the protest was not ordinary, adding that there was a likelihood that the students’ demonstration was sponsored.
He said, “I understand that some of them (protesters) are in touch with some other people who for whatever reasons want me, the VC, out of office. Therefore, they think that if they do this protest that the vice chancellor would be removed from office.”
The vice chancellor disclosed that the management of the institution regretted the death of one of the protesting students, Mr. Peter Ofurum, but denied knowledge of the circumstances that led to the death.
Lale stated that the protest had nothing to do with the hike in tuition, but bemoaned that the act was masterminded by students, who wanted to be certified without sitting for any examinations.
“As a university, we sincerely regret and mourn with the family of the deceased. I hear a student died in some circumstances that are not very clear to me. I regret it so much that such happened.
“All you hear is that the VC increased fees. Firstly, in federal universities, we don’t pay tuition fees, government only allows us to take some charges in which we use to provide students certain services.
“The charges that are being paid today in this institution were negotiated last two years under the administration of Prof. Joseph Ajienka, the former VC of the institution
