Caleb University gate
| credits: www.calebuniversity.edu.ng
| credits: www.calebuniversity.edu.ng
Caleb University was recently embroiled in a violent students’ protest that paralysed academic activities, writes TOBI AWORINDE
With the March 20, 2014 protest by Bowen
University students still fresh in mind, not many would have thought
that such violent demonstrations peculiar to public institutions, would
soon play out in yet another private university.
But three weeks ago, a similar incident
occurred at the Christian Caleb University, situated in Imota, Lagos
State. It was barely two months after that of Bowen.
Whereas Bowen students had protested
inadequate amenities and constrictions placed on them by the school,
Caleb University undergraduates were protesting matters bordering more
on religion.
In a dramatic event involving the
school’s student affairs officer, male students went on a rampage after
two Muslim students were refused the same privilege enjoyed by
Christians on campus to pray in their respective ways.
According to separate accounts by
students of the institution who witnessed the incident, the event was
only a trigger for frustrations that they had been going through, with
regard to the school rules.
A 100-level male student, who preferred to remain unnamed, told SUNDAY PUNCH
that the students were tired of all the “strict rules” the school had
given them and complained that as a result, they do not have social
lives.
He said, “It was sometime around 5pm on
May 14. What happened that Wednesday afternoon was a proof that they had
taken us as their slaves.
“Our student affairs officer came to the
male students’ hostel with a security officer and a hall administrator.
They were moving from room to room, inspecting the hair and beards of
male students and ordering those they thought should shave to do so.
“He then entered the room of two Muslim
students who were praying. When he came in, he started talking to them.
But, as one would expect, they did not stop their prayers to answer him.
Because it is a Christian school, the man got angry.
“He started beating them. Then he took
their prayer mats. He told them he was going to suspend them for two
weeks. The men he came with also beat them. That was what got the male
students angry.”
He added that the students were angry at
being treated like children and that they all came out of their hostel,
shouting angrily that they would not allow their colleagues be suspended
after the beating that they had already received.
He stated that officials of the school had done a number of things to upset them before that incident.
The fresher said, “After they had been
told they were suspended, in anger, the students went about destroying
property and school records.”
He said a male student mounted stones at the entrance of the school, so no one could go out or come in.
He added that the dean of the college
later came out to confront the students, in company with the dean of
student affairs and the chief security officer.
“They started talking to us, not even
listening to anything we were saying. The boys then got angry, because
they were talking to the officials and were ignored.
“They started breaking things in the
hostels, destroying doors, windows and computers. They went to the
female students’ hostel too to destroy property. They destroyed things
everywhere on campus, including the church,” he said.
While noting that Muslim students in the school had not previously been warned against prayers, the student told SUNDAY PUNCH
that other things that the students were upset about included water
shortage, poor electricity supply, and the process of obtaining permits
to exit the school premises.
“Sometimes, there won’t be water. We
would have to buy water sachets to have our bath. When they find that we
are not dressed according to the school rules, they would still punish
us, when we don’t have water to wash our clothe.
“Also, they don’t give us sufficient electricity; some of the fans in the hostels aren’t working.
“We are given only two permits in one
month. One permits the students to be out of the school and return
before the end of the day. The other allows students to be out of school
for a maximum of three days. Clearly, they don’t want us to have social
lives,” he said.
He added that the students did not have a student union government.
Another 100-level student, who spoke to SUNDAY PUNCH also on the basis of anonymity, said he witnessed the event.
He said, “When the student affairs
officer came to the male students’ hostel, he entered a room in the
hostel and he saw two Muslim students praying. He asked them to stop.
But, being Muslims, they wouldn’t stop until they were done with their
prayers. So, they didn’t answer him.”
He stated that the school official then yanked their prayer mats from under them and asked them to write down their names.
“He told them that he would suspend them.
Other students came out from their rooms to see what was happening,
when the noise began to grow.
“Soon after, students blocked the
entrance of the hostel with big stones. They said no staff member would
leave the school. Later some officials came and wanted to apologise for
what the man did.
“The students said they did not want
anyone but the student affairs officer’s apology. I have never heard
about such a rule since I joined the school in January. Since I came in,
I have often seen Muslims praying,” he added.
According to the student, at noon the
following day (Thursday), the Visitor to the school, Dr. Oladega
Adebogun, ordered all students to leave the school campus by 3pm and
police officers were invited to ensure compliance.
“They (the school) sent text messages to
each student’s guardian, asking them to pay N100,000 or N50,000 in
damages (males and females, respectively),” he said.
The student noted that the incident
marked the first time the official would come to the hostel, adding that
the hall administrators do not disturb Muslim students when they pray.
According to the freshman, students were not fond of the student affairs
officer.
He said, “No student likes him. On the
same day of the riot, he had threatened a female student with suspension
in my presence, because she was waiting for another staff member
outside her office.
“At the same setting, he threatened me as well with suspension because he felt my hair was not cut low enough.”
He said though fellow students had often
told him to ensure his hair was kept low at all times, he had not
received a copy of the school handbook, despite having paid. He also
complained about the school’s strictness in the area of religion.
“Each student gets 100 points when he is
admitted into the school. Every time he misses church service, 10 points
is deducted. When all his points are exhausted, the student is
expelled.
“The points are not meant for attendance
at church services alone. It is also used as a means of punishment. Once
a student is caught doing something unacceptable by the school’s rules,
the school subtracts points,” he said.
According to the Public Relations Officer
of the university, Ms. Olusola Emiola, investigations are ongoing and
until the rightful offenders are identified and sanctions meted out,
“nothing will be said by the authorities on the incident.”
On May 15, the day the school was
forcefully closed, the institution’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ayo Olukoju,
stated that the action of the students prompted the “temporary
vacation.”
He had said, “We have rules and
regulations in the school and all the students agreed to abide by them.
These rules are in the student hand-out. Before now, we have been
applying appropriate sanctions against students who default in any of
these rules.
“We wanted to enforce one of such
sanctions on Wednesday before this crisis escalated. The crisis has
nothing to do with religion. It has nothing to do with being a Christian
or a Muslim.”
Olukoju noted that the religious link to the crisis was a “mere pretence,” adding that the school would reopen on June 2, 2014.
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