Not less than 26 Students have been rusticated by management of the Delta State University (DELSU) Abraka, while four others have been placed on indefinite suspension.
This action of the university was contained in a special edition of the bulletin issued by the Department of Information and Public Relations, Vice Chancellor’s office, on Tuesday 5th June, 2018.
According to the bulletin, the affected students were sanctioned for their alleged involvement in various examination malpractices.
The Nation gathered some of those affected are the departmental presidents of Mass Communication, Economics, Political Science, Sociology, Business Administration and Geography and Regional Planning departments.
However, in a swift reaction to the development, some of the affected students, when contacted, alleged that they were, indeed, being victimized by the management of the Faculty of Social Sciences for daring to raise questions over alleged misappropriation of hundreds of thousands of students’ dues.
A source in one of the departments who spoke on conditions of anonymity, said revealed “when the presidents of the respective departments noticed the way and manner the faculty president single handedly disbursed over N700, 000 for the conduct of a welcome party for 100 level students without the constitutional backing, they passed a vote of no confidence on him during congress which he (faculty president) boycotted.
“While the congress was going on, the staff adviser stormed the venue demanding who authorized the congress and threatened that they would hear from him.
“Days later, the departmental presidents were accused of plots to destabilize the peace of the university and summoned to face a panel which they did only for a bulletin to be released today stating that they have been rusticated for two semesters respectively”, the source said.
Describing the defense of the students as an afterthought, the Public Relations Officer of the institution, Freeborn Aganbi said “students who are saying that are doing so to cover up for their exam malpractice. The management of the university is not interested in victimizing or punishing any student”.
