Our correspondent reports how angry students of the Isa Mustapha Agwai Polytechnic, Lafia, Nasarawa State, recently staged a protest against the closure of the school’s registration portal by the institution.
The Nasarawa State-owned Isa Mustapha Agwai Polytechnic (IMAP), Lafia, recently witnessed a violent protest by students of the institution.
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The incident, which resulted in the destruction of some properties in the school, forced the management of the institution to shut down the polytechnic indefinitely for over three weeks now.
Although the students said the protest was due to a hike in tuition fees by the institution. Investigations by Daily Trust on Sunday indicate that there were other deeper issues behind the ugly incident.
An investigation revealed that the alleged mismanagement of students’ N150 million development funds by the Alumni Association of the polytechnic and subsequent moves by the management of the institution to plug loopholes were part of the reasons for the ugly incident.
It was gathered that the alumni association had collected N2,000 as development levies from students but the said funds were allegedly mismanaged.
When the alleged mismanagement and other fraudulent activities came to the knowledge of the management, it shut the portal being used by the alumni and created a new one to block leakages.
Investigation by Daily Trust on Sunday indicated that the alumni association and its collaborators (some staff members) who were not happy about the move allegedly hired some hoodlums to join the students of the institution to stage the protest in the school.
An impeccable source told our correspondent that the management of the school didn’t hike tuition fees as alleged by the alumni, adding that the protests were orchestrated to rubbish the integrity of the polytechnic and its management.
According to the source, the goal of those behind the protests was to paint the polytechnic management and council black so they could be removed to pave the way for them to reverse the decision of blocking leakages in the revenues.
Our correspondent gathered that when the new rector, Mrs Justina Kotso came on board, she discovered that there were a lot of leakages in the institution’s portal.
It was further learnt that some staff members reportedly connived with the alumni body in issuing fake receipts and printing out fake statements of results as well as collecting examination fees from the students all amounting to N150 million.
It was learnt that the alumni association excos were sworn-in in 2014 and have been in the helm of affairs till 2020 before the new rector was appointed by the visitor of the polytechnic, Governor Abdullahi Sule, to replace the former rector, Dr. Silas Gyar.
Sources from the institution disclosed that after discovering the leakages, the new rector ordered for the immediate closure of the old portal and introduced a new one, a situation that reportedly did not go down with the alumni and other staff members who were said to have been conniving with the alumni exco in defrauding the school and students.
It was learnt that one of the alumni excos (name withheld) who was caught with two fake receipts which he was issuing to students during an examination was arrested and is being investigated by the police.
Nasarawa State governor, Abdullahi Sule, who visited the ICT centre of the polytechnic to inspect the level of destruction of the institution’s properties, frowned at the attitude of the alumni body as well as some staff members who were allegedly involved in milking the polytechnic’s funds.
“I knew that some staff of the polytechnic have been defrauding the institution and I am not happy with that. So, whoever that instigated the protest will not go scot free; such must be arrested, punished and prosecuted to serve as a deterrent to others,” he said.
Reacting to the protest and alleged defrauding of students to the tune of N150 million, the national President of the Alumni Association of the polytechnic, Mr. Ogbele Arenya, described the entire allegations as false.
On the inauguration of the new exco of the association, he noted that there was no official document from the Governing Council halting the inauguration, arguing that only a competent court of law could issue an injunction halting the inauguration, hence he proceeded with the inauguration of the new exco.
He, however, maintained that the N2,000 alumni fees collected from the students could be accounted for as it was utilised for the purchase of computers in the school, renovation of multipurpose hall, sponsorship of students and many others.
He added that alumni were not linked to the students’ protest, arguing that they had their issue with the polytechnic before the students’ unrest.
“We are not linked to the protest. The election we had was a credible one in the eyes of credible observers, even some state Independent Electoral Commission as well as security agencies in the state.
“We decided to hold our election outside the school premises because when we came around for the election, we were asked to go by the security agents at the school gate; that only workers from level 13 and above were allowed entry to the school compound by the management,” he revealed.
He, however, claimed that they were not given an opportunity to express their grievances, hence the conduct of the election outside the school premises.
Speaking to Daily Trust on Sunday over the protest, an HND II student in computer department, who pleaded anonymity, said that the students’ unrest has caused a serious setback to him, adding that they were settling down to commence their final examination when the protest broke out.
“If not for the protest I would have been a graduate by now. I want to use this medium to appeal to both the state government and the management of the institution to kindly reopen the school,” he said.
Also speaking to our correspondent, an ND II student of Mass Communication Department, who doesn’t want his name in print, pleaded with the school management to ensure that the school registration portal becomes effective in order to avert a recurrence of the protest.
“In the ICT department, there used to be many staff working there but now only one man is left to attend to all students who come to make payment of school fees and this is one of the reasons for the protest. The students are always there under the scorching sun from morning till evening. The situation has been unbearable for many students. I am appealing to the management of the institution to do something about it in order to avert a protest of this nature in the future,” he said.
It would be recalled that no fewer than 27 students of the IMAP, Lafia, were arrested by the Nasarawa police in connection with the protest.
