Students of the University of Jos (UNIJOS) staged a protest against the management of the institution on Monday over alleged poor health facilities, a lack of electricity supply, and water scarcity.
The placard-wielding students noted that three of their colleagues died recently at the school clinic as a result of poor healthcare facilities.
One of the students who gave his name simply as Josiah said, ”We don’t know what the school management wants the students to do. There has been no water in the hostels for the past two or three days. Even the blackout, which has been ongoing as well, has left several students completely stranded.
“Apart from that, we are also not happy with the school management over the dissolution of the Students Union Government because, right now, the students have no direction because they don’t have any leadership.
“The VC and the school management have refused to give us a listening ear. They (school management) came here this morning and said we should send representatives to negotiate. But how can we be told to negotiate for our rights? This is not proper.
“The school management has now directed the students to send in representatives for negotiations. However, no one has volunteered to go since the protest was not led by the officials of the student body, as the last SUG executives were dissolved in February, and a new government has not been formed.”
Speaking on the protest on Facebook, a student of the institution, Yusuf Tanko, states that “the students have always been the ones suffering from all that is happening.
“There was no light in the university community, which led to the deaths of about 2 to 3 students at the university. On a sad note, our school ambulance works only when the students are writing exams.
“Lack of social amenities in the campus areas such as water, light, toilets, security, and other necessary things that a university provides for the welfare of its students.
“The welfare of the student should be the utmost priority of the management of the University of Jos, but the reverse is the case, in which all resources are channelled towards the upcoming NUGA games.
“We as students are paying not less than N100,000 per student, and we are suffering. What else will the students and the masses benefit from the management and the government now?”
It was learned that following the protest, the university authority quickly deployed security operatives to the institution to prevent the protest from being hijacked by hoodlums.
