On Wednesday, students from the University of Benin came to the streets, blocking the ever-busy Benin-Ore highway to protest weeks of power outage on campus.
The students, who had barely two weeks until their first semester exams, said the situation interfered with their preparation.
The university was plunged into darkness after failing to reach a deal with the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) over a contentious electricity bill.
The institution’s management reportedly raised dissatisfaction after the Benin DisCo increased the institution’s monthly electricity prices by more than 200 percent.
The monthly bill was said to have jumped from about N80 million to between N200 and N280 million, forcing the university to resort to power generators and rationalisation of power on the two campuses and hostels.
“We only had one hour of electricity every day since this issue started. We are tired of studying in the dark.
“We need electricity to read and prepare for our exams. The university management needs to take responsibility and fix this issue,” said John Afolabi, one of the protesting students.
The protest began early in the morning, with students holding placards and screaming slogans as they blocked the highway.
“We will not leave until something is done. “We can’t afford to fail our exams because of the university’s negligence,” said Sarah Osaigbovo, a 300-level student at the Ugbowo campus.
The protest severely disrupted the free flow of vehicular transportation, leaving many passengers stranded and unable to reach their destinations.
A visibly angry commuter, who refused to disclose his name, said, “I’m supposed to be at work right now, but I’ve been stuck here for hours. I understand the students’ plight, but they needto find a better way to protest.”
Despite the rain, the students were determined to continue the rampage.
When contacted, UNIBEN’s spokeswoman Benedicta Ehanire said a meeting of the Senate was ongoing on how to resolve the issue.