Students of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) have staged a protest against the management of the institution over a N20,000 hike in tuition.

No fewer than 3,000 students gathered at the main gate of the campus in Benin, the Edo State capital, to express their displeasure with the decision to hike tuition and strip any defaulting student of their studentship after the September 17 deadline.

According to a circular sighted by FIJ, the institution opened its portal for registration and payment of fees on August 16, 2021. The portal was to remain open until September 3.

Failure to meet the three-week deadline would attract a penalty of N10,000 between September 6 and 10, and a heavier penalty of N20,000 between September 13 and 17.

“Any student who fails to register at the close of the registration deadline will be deemed to have voluntarily withdrawn from the University,” the circular reads in part.

A student leader in the school said, “We have 100 level students who were supposed to pay N69,900 now forced to pay N89,900, and all this is within the first month of the first semester. We have students who are just coming into the system. Bed allocation is such a big issue that a lot of students have to go off campus to get hostels. There is also the burden of getting books, and you are adding tuition.”

Some placards sighted at the protest read: “VC, must I prostitute to pay fees?”; “Education is my right, not my privilege”.