Market women, youths join students protesting fee hike

The police in Ondo State have arrested some students of the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko who had shut down activities in the state capital, Akure, for three days over increment in tuition fees.

The police picked up 12 students and 34 other people as hundreds of market women, youths and some parents joined the protest, blocking major roads and singing anti-government songs.

The Ondo State Police Command Spokesman, Femi Joseph, who confirmed the arrest to Daily Trust in a telephone interview, confirmed that 12 of those arrested were students of the university while the rest were youths and thugs “who had hijacked the protest.”

Joseph said they had appealed to the students to end the peaceful protest to prevent hoodlums from hijacking it, and now the fear was becoming a reality.

The state Commissioner for Information, Yemi Olowolabi, has also accused politicians of hijacking the protest.

But the students have vowed not to end the protest until government reversed the controversial fees.

The state government and the governing council had last week approved the increase in tuition fees from average of N30,000 to N180,000 and N200,000.

The Chairman, Governing Council of the school, Dr Tunji Abayomi, said the university was facing financial difficulties and if the fees were not increased, the school could collapse.