[su_dropcap]A[/su_dropcap]fter initial stand-off with the authrorities of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) over its directive that the protesting students should vacate campus, the students yesterday departed the school for their various homes.
The students had appeared to be spoiling for showdown with the school’s authorities after the university had, at an emergency meeting on Thursday, ordered the school shut and directed the students to leave for their homes on account of “the ongoing agitation of the student body over poor electricity and water supply in the community, and the difficulty faced by large number of students living off campus to attend classes as a result of the fuel crisis.”
The Senate added: “In order to forestall further breakdown of law and order on campus, all academic activities on campus are hereby suspended with immediate effect; the university is therefore closed with immediate effect.
“No student should remain in the halls of residence after 10 am on Friday, 8th April, 2016; a decision to reopen for normal activities will be taken as soon as municipal services improve.”
But the Students Union, in a counter statement, asked its members to ignore the ‘go home order’, and remain on the campus.
The students’ body on its part dismissed the management’s order as inhuman as it exposed its members’ lives to risk.
The leadership of the students however soft-pedalled after their initial resistance, flunging the gates open for the students to go home.