FEDPOADO Campus Shut

Damilare Okunola

The Academic Board of the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, has asked its students to vacate their hostels indefinitely following the continuation of the strike by the institution’s Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, ASUP.

In a circular issued on Monday, 19 January and signed by Mrs. S. O. Adediran, Registrar of the institution, the students were asked to vacate their hostels immediately.

The Secretary to the Academic Board, in the statement made available to P.M.NEWS Campus Square, advised the students to comply with the directive in their own interest, or “it would be viewed as a deliberate violation of the directive of the Academic Board and will attract appropriate disciplinary measures.”

Describing the directive as rather “unfortunate”, one of the students of the institutions, simply identified as Steven, said there were other issues which needed to be addressed by the institution.

The HND 1 student noted that the students had to leave the campus as a result of the directive as many of them were scared of the sanctions the institution would mete out to erring students.

According to him, “we were also informed that the SUG had issues among themselves which resulted in exchange of blows a few minutes after the circular arrived.

“Currently, I am on my way back to Lagos because the circular advised us to vacate the premises in our own interest. It is rather unfortunate, but as students, we are handicapped.

“One can only hope for the best because this is a new year and it will be inappropriate to start on such a demoralising note.”

He appealed to the Federal Government, through its Minister for Education, Mallam Shekarau Ibrahim, to save Polytechnics in the country from going into extinction.

“We are tired of this unending strike action which is often necessitated by the disagreement between the FG and ASUP. I really want the FG to look into this issue of industrial action and allow us get on with our academics uninterrupted,” Steven lamented.