Delta Poly shut as students protest fees hike.

The Delta State Polytechnic, Ozoro, has been shut down by its management for a week, just as the Delta state police command said it had arrested 39 students of the institution in connection with the violent protest, which shut the school’s activities down Wednesday.
Although, the institution is yet to issue any official statement to this effect, as its spokesman, B.A Ekanem, could not be reached as at press time, other sources within the institution confirmed the development.
Meanwhile, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Delta police command, Celestina Kalu (DSP), told the Nation that not less than 39 suspects had been arrested from among the students over the breakdown of law and order during the protest.
A student who relayed the mode of arrests to the Nation in a telephone chat said the arrest was arbitrary as even those who did not join in the protest were also arrested.
The protest, which had earlier been put down by the Ozoro Police Division, resurged again Wednesday evening, leading to the burning down of the institution’s security house.
Earlier, in the protest, the protesting students had taken over the Ozoro stretch of the Ughelli-Asaba Express Road and forced some of their co-students who had chosen to ignore the call to protest to join in the confusion, leaving some injured.
The Nation gathered that the irate students were protesting a sudden increase in school fees.
A student source, who did not wish to be mentioned, told the Nation that some students, who initially refused to join the protest, were attacked by the aggressive protesters, leaving many students injured. None of the injured students were seen around while the protest lasted.
Explaining the cause of the unrest, the student, an OND 1 student said “the protest was actually led by ND 2 and HND 2 students. From what I gathered, ND 2 students paid N50,000 when they resumed school as fresh students and you know that the fresher’s fee is usually high because of the various dues and registrations to pay for.
“Now they are asking them to pay the same fee even as returning students. I learnt the HND 2 students are facing the same problem; they paid N60, 000 in HND 1, now the school wants them to pay the same fee in HND 2,” she said