The Education Rights Campaign (ERC), University of Ibadan chapter, has issued a strongly worded statement condemning the growing wave of criminal activity on the university campus, linking the surge to economic hardship and student welfare neglect.
The group raised concerns over the increasing reports of phone and laptop theft, break-ins into hostels and reading rooms, and harassment within the university environment. It called on the university management to step up security efforts and establish democratic security committees involving student representatives to tackle the menace.
In a press release signed by branch secretary Nnamdi Ochi, the ERC stated that the deteriorating security situation is symptomatic of the wider socio-economic hardship triggered by what it termed the “anti-student” policies of the Tinubu-led federal government and the “insensitive” administration of UI Vice-Chancellor, Professor Kayode Adebowale.
“While we do not in any way support criminality,” the group stated, “the stark reality is that under the current economic hardship and declined campus welfare, many students are already pushed to the brink of survival.”
The ERC accused the Students’ Union leadership, under the Covenant administration, of failing in its responsibility to defend student rights, citing its silence on fee hikes, fee disparity, and growing insecurity on campus.
Particularly alarming to the ERC is the ongoing fee crisis in the College of Medicine, where 300-level Direct Entry students are reportedly being made to pay significantly higher fees than their counterparts at the same academic level.
Describing the situation as unjust and divisive, the ERC demanded an immediate regularisation of fees and an end to what it called “discriminatory and exploitative fee regimes.”
The group also criticised the recent imposition of a registration deadline by the university, warning that it could prevent financially struggling students from writing examinations, while also decrying the alleged victimisation of student activists.
In its list of demands, the ERC called for:
1. Improved security measures on campus.
2. An end to fee discrimination within the College of Medicine.
3. Reversal of the general fee hike and improvements in campus welfare.
4. An independent and democratic Students’ Union, free from university interference.
5. A student congress to address issues of welfare, insecurity, fee hikes, and how to mobilise collective resistance.
The group urged progressive students and organizations to rise up and push for accountability and equity on campus, while warning against any attempt to militarize the university or target students under the guise of fighting crime.
“To join the ERC and help build it at the University of Ibadan,” the statement concluded, “send a message to 08033914091 or 08027564324
