Angry students of the University of Benin on Wednesday defiled the downpour to shut down commercial activities along the popular Benin-Lagos highway over the continued power outage in the two campuses of institution.
The protesters barricaded both lanes of the express causing vehicular gridlock with thousands of commuters plying the route stranded during the over five hours protest by the students.
Both Ugbowo and Ekhewan campuses of UNIBEN have been without electricity supply for months after the BEDC Plc disconnected power supply to the institution over management failure to pay exorbitant estimated billing.
The management of the institution was said to have expressed dismay over the upward review of its monthly electricity bill from N80m to N280m.
This forced the university to resort to alternative power generators and rationalisation on the two campuses.
The protest, which began early in the morning, saw students carrying placards and chanting slogans as they blocked the highway.
A protesting student, who simply gave his name as John, said that the hour of electricity supply daily had become largely inadequate and had made studying very discouraging.
He said, “We only have one hour of electricity every day since this issue started. We are tired of studying in the dark.
“We need electricity to read and prepare for our exams. The university management needs to take responsibility and fix this issue.”
Another student who gave her name as Sarah said, “We will not leave the highway until something is done. We can’t afford to fail our exams because of the university’s negligence.”
A driver, who gave his name as Osas, said that the protest had caused him to lose income as he may not be able to achieve his target for the day.
“If I knew this was going to happen, I would not ply this route because it caused me to lose income and I may not be able to reach my target for the day.
“I hope the management of the school will address the students’ protest so that this situation can be brought to an end. Many people are also stranded and they will not be able to go to work or their places of business.
An angry commuter, who refused to disclose his name said, “I’m supposed to be at work right now, but I’ve been stuck here for hours.
“I understand the students’ plight, but they need to find a better way to protest.”
The rainfall did not deter the students as they vowed to stay on until the issue was resolved.
When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the institution, Benedicta Ehanire, said a meeting of the Senate was ongoing on how to resolve the issue. The resolution of the meeting was not communicated to our correspondent as of the time of filing this report.
