Last Thursday, students of the College of Education in Warri, Delta State protested what they call the “unsuitable” hostels in the 33-year-old institution. PHILIP OKORODUDU (500-Level Electrical, Electronics and Computer Engineering, Delta State University) reports.
STUDENTS of the Delta State College of Education in Warri took to the streets, last week, protesting what they call unsuitable Halls of Residence in the school since its establishment 33 years ago.
Many of the students live in shanties, which they named “glass houses”. The makeshift hostels built with planks were burnt by youths of the college’s host community, who claimed that the land on which the shacks stand is in dispute between two communities in Warri.
The wooden structures are being used, pending when the government would build hostels in the school.
The government, CAMPUSLIFE gathered, promised that hostels would be ready this month. But at the time of this report, there was no sign that the project has taken off.
Last Wednesday, those living in “glass houses” were caught unawares when youths, described as members of the family said to own the land, set the hostels ablaze at 7pm. Many of the students were relaxing when their rooms were torched. Properties and valuables, including students’ credentials were burnt. The victims told our correspondent that they were not allowed to pick anything from their rooms.
Investigation revealed that the Okumagba family leased the land to people, who built the wooden hostels.
It was learnt that all was well until the death of the Okumagba family head.
Another family, Edjeba, upon hearing of the death of Okumagba family head, laid claim to the land, saying it is its inheritance which was rented out to the Okumagbas by its forefathers.
CAMPUSLIFE gathered that Edjebas requested for part of the land, threatening to destroy the structures on it if its request was not granted.
The government, it was learnt, intervened in the tussle during the college’s convocation last August by reportedly taking the land from both families.
The government promised to build a befitting hostel on the land, which it said would be ready this month. Many students who had left the wooden hostels because of the threat by the warring families returned.
According to them, the cost of renting a single-room apartment in the oil-rich city is expensive compared to the N40,000 they paid in the wooden houses.
When the arsonists visited the disputed land, students, who were unable to take anything from their rooms, ran away for their lives. Some of them were injured in the ensuing melee.
The following morning, students besieged the campus to protest what they called “neglect” by the government, which failed to build the Halls of Residence it promised the students.
The protesters said the burning of their hostels brought them untold hardship, urging the police to prosecute the arsonists.
During the peaceful protest, which was attended by the leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), the students gave the management two weeks ultimatum to provide accommodation for them or close down the college.
The protesters displayed placards with inscriptions, such as “Enough is enough”, “We are tired of failed promises by government”, “Provost, provide hostels for us”, “No hostel, no lecture” and “The college hostel is long overdue”, among others.
Following the demonstration, the Acting Provost, Mr. Sylvester Ebisine, summoned an emergency management meeting where it was decided that the school be closed till February 3.
A 300-Level student, who pleaded for anonymity, said the management had been deceiving students on when it would build suitable hostels. “They have been pretending that they are doing something on our plight. The management is well aware that most of us sleep in hostels made from planks and bamboos,” he said.
A 200-Level student of Economics and Political Science Education, who simply gave her name as Chidinma, relived the incident: “Words cannot explain the pain I felt when some community youths came to burn down the ‘glass house’; it all happened before my eyes. I saw students running in different direction to escape from the hoodlums. Some of us cried as we watched our personal effects being burnt; we could not move closer because we could be attacked. At that moment, I was so much disappointed in the management and the state government. Before a school is established, there has to be accommodation plan for students and staff. But here, the reverse is the case.”
Several attempts to speak to the college’s officials were futile. The Students’ Union leaders declined to comment.
The students are demanding the provision of suitable hostels whenever the school reopens. They also want the government to arrest and prosecute the hoodlums, who burnt their properties.
