Irate students of the College of Health Sciences and Technology, Jega, Kebbi State, have torched the residence of the Provost, Alhaji Haruna Saidu-Sauwa, and vandalized his vehicle in a violent protest.
The unrest erupted over accusations that the college management extorted N23 million from 250 graduating students for index registration fees.
A source within the institution, who spoke on condition of anonymity, explained that the controversy stemmed from the college’s newly introduced Public Health program.
Initially affiliated with the Reproductive Health and Public Health Association of Nigeria, the program was later merged with the Department of Environmental Health to secure certification.
This led to a demand for an additional N65,000 from each student for index registration, on top of the N30,000 they had already paid.
Claiming that the college management was exploiting them, the students reacted by stoning vehicles and setting fire to the provost’s residence. Many college staff fled the scene in fear, while security personnel were later deployed to restore order.
In response, Provost Haruna Saidu-Sauwa refuted the extortion allegations, calling them “fictitious, baseless, and mischievous.” He denied claims of collaborating with any organization in Oyo State to extort students and dismissed the reports as false.
“The said publications carried an unknown source who gave his version of the story. I challenge the person to come forward with evidence of extortion and course duplication,” Saidu-Sauwa stated.
He emphasized that the school operates under a Single Treasury Account, where all payments are made, and asserted that neither he nor the management has access to the funds.
The provost further suggested that the protest was incited by the anonymous source mentioned in the reports, whom he accused of attempting to discredit the college with baseless allegations.
“We are happy no one was hurt, and we are working with security personnel to identify the organizers of the protest,” he added, noting that both his personal vehicle and college property were damaged.
Normalcy has since been restored to the college after security forces intervened and dispersed the protesters.
The Kebbi State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Nafiu Abubakar, confirmed that more details would be provided as soon as further information from the Divisional Police Officer in Jega becomes available.
