Students at the College of Health Sciences and Technology in Jega, Kebbi State, have set fire to the residence of the Provost, Alhaji Haruna Saidu-Sauwa, following allegations of extortion.
During the violent protest, his house was torched, and his vehicle was vandalized.
The unrest stemmed from claims that the college’s management extorted N23 million from students for index registration fees, affecting 250 graduating students.
Sources revealed that the issue arose from a newly introduced Public Health program, which was initially affiliated with the Reproductive Health and Public Health Association of Nigeria.
To secure certification, the college reportedly merged the program with the Department of Environmental Health, resulting in an additional fee of N65,000 per student for index registration, on top of the N30,000 already paid.
Accusing the management of extortion, students responded violently, throwing stones at vehicles and setting the provost’s residence ablaze.
In response, Provost Saidu-Sauwa dismissed the allegations as “fictitious, baseless, and mischievous.”
He refuted claims of collaborating with an organization in Oyo State to extort N23 million from students and denied that any new course introduction led to additional payments, calling the accusations a product of misinformation.
He said, “The said publications carried an unknown source who gave his own version of the story. I challenge the person to come clean in his allegations of student extortion and his claim of course duplications.
“Let me state here in categorical terms that I and the school management have no hand in the said allegations of course duplications and extortion.
“Our school operates the Single Treasury Account where all monies belonging to the school are paid to and no one has access to the account including me.”
Reacting to the incident, the Public Relations Officer of the Kebbi State Police Command, SP Nafiu Abubakar, stated that further details would be shared once the Divisional Police Officer in Jega submits a comprehensive report.
In the meantime, normalcy has been restored at the college following the intervention of security agencies, who dispersed the protesters and brought the situation under control.