SHAME! UNILAG rusticates blind student for criticising school authorities
All hell will be let out at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) on Friday, activists have told Newsroom.
They are angry over what they described as the continuing victimization of students who are critical of the school management.
UNILAG, we gathered, has suspended Political Science student Lawrence Success Umezinwa for apparently standing up for his rights.
The 25-year-old is visually impaired.
“I ought to have graduated last year (2015/16 academic session) but that was delayed because of errors with results of two courses I took,” Success told Newsroom on Thursday night.
“The courses are POL325 and POL408. A friend told me the school asked those with issues to submit relevant course forms so the problems could be fixed.
“I gave him my password to help print the forms. He logged into my portal only to find that I have been rusticated.
“It is stated on the portal that I have been suspended for two years for ‘illegal protest’,” Success told us.
Newsroom gathered the “illegal” protest took place in 2015 during which students complained about the plague of bed bugs in their hostels.
Success was then chairman of Mariere Hall and seemed to have participated in the agitation for a saner life. His name, we gathered, was submitted to a school panel specifically setup to witch-hunt the protest leaders.
“Some of us faced a panel then but no action was taken against us,” Success told our correspondent.
“The school did not write me at any time to inform me that I have been rusticated. I just found out via the portal.”
We understand Success also sued UNILAG in 2016 after deputy student dean Karo Ogbinaka allegedly ordered campus security to beat and forcefully evict him from the hostel.
“I am going to UNILAG tomorrow (Friday) to ask why I was rusticated and I don’t care what happens. At this point, there is nothing to lose. The deed has been done,” Success said.
Femi Adeyeye, another UNILAG student rusticated for criticizing the management, has vowed to join the protest which he said would ground all activities in the school.
We also gathered Charly Boy will storm UNILAG to protest against the apparent victimization of Success, Adeyeye and 10 other students who were suspended for criticizing the school management.
We have contacted UNILAG for comments. We’ll let you know when they get back to us.
Activists say they know UNILAG would deploy armed police to stop the protest tomorrow.
