BREAKING: UNIBEN Shut Indefinitely After Students Protest Blackout Caused By Electricity Tariff Increase
The University of Benin (UNIBEN) has been shut down indefinitely.
In a statement today Thursday by its Public Relations Officer, Dr Benedicta Ehanire, the school attributed the decision to the refusal of the students to yield ground on their demands.
Students on Wednesday took to the streets, blocking the ever-busy Benin-Ore Highway, to protest weeks of power outages on campus.
They had two weeks until their first semester examination.
And the students said the blackout was severely affecting their preparation.
The students also called for a downward review of transport fares by the UNIBEN shuttle service, which was increased with effect from July 1.
UNIBEN was thrown into a blackout by the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) following the inability to reach agreement over contentious electricity billings.
The monthly bill was said to have escalated from about N80 million to between N200 and N280 million, forcing the university to resort to power generators as well as rationalisation of power on the two campuses and hostels.
In the notice of closure made available to NAN, Ehanire described the students’ demand for 24-hour supply of electricity as unrealistic.
“Following the insistence 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.
“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,” said the university’s spokesperson.
