The University of Benin (UNIBEN) has halted academic activities indefinitely following student protests on Wednesday. The protests centered on demands for a continuous 24-hour electricity supply, which the university’s Senate deemed unrealistic....Read The Full Story Here ▶
In a statement released on Thursday, the university’s Public Relations Officer, Benedicta Ehanire, announced that the shutdown affects only academic activities, with non-academic staff remaining unaffected. Students have been instructed to vacate their hostels immediately.
“Following the refusal of students of the University of Benin to shift grounds on their demands for twenty-four hours supply of electricity and more, considered unrealistic by the University’s Senate, the University has shut down academic activities indefinitely,” the statement read.
“Students are to vacate the hostels immediately while all the relevant units of the University are to take note and comply. However, non-teaching staff and staff on essential duties are not affected by the shutdown.”
The protests erupted after weeks of power outages on campus, severely impacting students’ preparations for their first-semester examinations, which are scheduled to take place in two weeks. The students blocked the Benin-Ore Highway during their demonstration, highlighting the extent of their frustration and the critical need for reliable electricity on campus.
