A peaceful protest by students of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) against the recent fee hike turned chaotic on Wednesday, September 06, 2023, as police officers deployed tear gas to disperse the demonstrators.
The protest, which took place on the UNILAG campus at 8 am, saw undergraduates expressing their concerns over the fee increment, which was announced by the university in July and was set to take effect from September 1.
The revised fee structure included sessional mandatory charges for new undergraduate students at ₦126,325 for courses without a lab/studio and ₦176,325 for courses that require laboratory or studio access.
Returning students were also affected, facing fees of ₦100,750 for courses without labs and studios, and ₦140,250 for courses with lab or studio requirements. Additionally, medical students were subject to an approved charge of ₦190,250.
For some returning medical students, this translated to an astounding 900% increase in their fees.
Notably, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) had previously suspended a planned protest on this issue. However, on Wednesday, approximately 40 UNILAG students gathered at the university entrance to voice their discontent.
Efforts to contact UNILAG management and the Lagos police spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin, remained unsuccessful at the time of this report.
PULSE NEWS