(UNICAL. Photo Credit; AIT)
Two hundred and fourteen students at the University of Calabar have filed a case in court against the university and its leadership over a decision to remove them from the Law program.
They are asking for five billion naira in compensation and want to be allowed to continue studying Law.
The problem started when the university told these students to go back to the departments they originally came from.
The university says that out of 435 students in the second-year Law class, only 221 were officially admitted to study Law.
The other 214 had transferred from other departments.
The university is worried that these 214 students may have difficulty getting into law school later because of how they were admitted.
However, the affected students disagree with what the university is saying.
They argue that the university’s management knew all along that they had transferred into Law and allowed them to continue.
The students say they paid all their fees, registered for courses, took exams, and even completed a JAMB regularisation process that the university asked them to do.
They claim they were never given a chance to explain their situation before the university made its decision on August 5 to send them back.
The students want the court to decide whether the university had the right to remove them from the Law Faculty without proving they did something wrong.
They also want their access restored to lectures, course registration, exam records, and other academic activities.
In the meantime, they are asking the court to stop the university from carrying out its removal order while the case is being heard.
President Bola Tinubu has been included in the lawsuit because he has a role in appointing the university’s Vice-Chancellor.
The court will now decide whether the university acted lawfully in reversing the students’ transfers.
