COED Ilorin shut indefinitely over students’ protest

The management of Kwara State College of Education, Ilorin, on Wednesday, announced the indefinite closure of the state college of education following a violent protest by the students.

The acting Provost of the College, Dr Ayinla Jimoh, made this announcement, saying that the decision to close down the college was to prevent further breakdown of law and order.

It was gathered that a large number of students of the institution were said to have protested against plans by the authorities to disallow students who had defaulted in school fees payment from participating in the semester exams.

According to the statement released by the authorities of the institution, the exams were scheduled to commence on Wednesday but the students disrupted the process, gone on a rampage destroying and damaging property on sight.

It was learnt that the students allegedly hauled stones, sachet water and missiles at some members of staff.

However, the Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Dr Afeez Abolore Alabi, was trying intervened but the aggrieved students seemed unstoppable and still went ahead with the destruction.

The Provost disclosed that the over 500 students who were yet to pay their school fees spearheaded the protest despite the intervention of the commissioner.

He said: “We had agreed to allow the defaulting students to take part in the examinations based on the intervention of the Commissioner but instead of appreciating the commissioner’s gesture, the student went on a rampage.

“They started throwing stones, sachet water and other things at us, as I am talking to you, we have closed down the college indefinitely.

“As per the salary arrears, the state Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, met with the college academic staff last week and promised to pay the salaries promptly. The governor gave his words. That informed the decision of the staff not to boycott the examinations.”