The management of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, in Oyo State, has suspended the activities of the Students Union of the school indefinitely over alleged unruly behaviour of the union officers.

The Registrar of the school, Kayode Ogunleye, disclosed this in a statement on Friday.

“The University Management, having noticed the recent unpalatable and ugly situation on campus, which has led to a situation whereby Student Union leaders were attacking one another thus lost control of the leadership of the Union, decided that the Student Union of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, be proscribed with immediate effect,” Mr Ogunleye said.

The university management said a caretaker committee has been formed in place of the proscribed union.

“To ensure continuity of interaction between students and management of the university, a caretaker committee has been put in place to interface between students and the university management.

“By this release, the leadership of the Student Union should hand over property of the Student Union and the University in their custody to the Ag Dean of Student Affairs with immediate effect.

“We appeal to students of the University to continue to maintain peace and tranquillity on campus and report any case of security threat,” the official said.

Repeated calls to the affected student leaders by PREMIUM TIMES to get their reactions to the development were not answered.

The suspension of the union may have a negative effect on the students as they now lack an independent body to engage the management on their behalf in the events of concerns over poor delivery of services.

The Trend

The suspension of LAUTECH Students Union activities has placed the institution on the trend of what is obtainable in many other Nigerian universities.

The OAU Students’ Union was suspended in November 2017, six months after the union at University Ibadan suffered a similar blow. Both cases were in the wake of the students’ protests.

In OAU, the management accused the union leaders of actions that could negatively impact its reputation and endanger the members of the university community.

Also, the authorities of the University of Ibadan accused the union of disrupting academic activities by mobilising students for a massive protest against the non-issuance of Identity (ID) cards and ‘unruly’ behaviour’ of the president.

Interestingly, as the UI failed to issue ID cards to students, OAU also did not. At both schools, students are annually charged for ID cards.