Protesting students of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) in the Edo State capital took to the streets on Wednesday blocking the ever-busy Benin-Ore Highway to protest weeks of power outage on campus.
They have only two weeks until their first semester examinations and said the power situation on campus was severely affecting their preparation.
The protest, which started on Wednesday morning, saw students carrying placards and chanting slogans as they blocked the highway.
The university was thrown into a blackout following the inability to reach an agreement with the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) over a contentious electricity bill.
The UNIBEN management was said to have expressed discontent after the BEDC reportedly made an upward review of the institution’s monthly electricity charges by over 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 power rationalization on the two campuses and hostels.
“We only have one hour of electricity daily 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,” one of the protesting students, John Afolabi, said.
A 300-level student at the Ugbowo campus, Sarah Osaigbovo, said: “We will not leave until something is done. We can’t afford to fail our exams because of the university’s negligence.”
The protest disrupted the free flow of vehicular movement, with 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 should find a better way to protest.”
Despite the rainfall, the protesting students were hell-bent on continuing the protest.
Speaking on the protest, the UNIBEN spokesperson, Dr Benedicta Ehanire, said a meeting of the university Senate was ongoing to resolve the issue.
