Tensions escalated on Monday at the Federal University Oye-Ekiti as students, youth leaders, and staff members staged a peaceful protest, accusing the university?s leadership of corruption, abuse of office, and moral decay.

Protest on FUOYE campus Ekiti

The protest, led by the National Youth Council of Nigeria, Ekiti State Chapter, and joined by the Association of Southern Nigeria Youth Congress, paralysed activities on the campus as demonstrators demanded the immediate suspension of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Abayomi Sunday Fasina, and the removal of the university?s Governing Council Chairman, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN).

The protesters carried placards with messages such as ?Enough of corruption in FUOYE,? ?Moral decay under Prof. Fasina is killing our morale,? and ?Tinubu, suspend FUOYE VC now.?

Viral images on social media and a statement shared with PUNCH Online on Monday revealed this.

NYCN Chairman, James Bankole, described the situation as a ?monumental crisis threatening to destroy FUOYE,? accusing the university?s leadership of running ?a calculated conspiracy of corruption, financial recklessness, and moral decay.?

PUNCH had earlier reported on Sunday that FUOYE SUG President, James Adio; General Secretary, Ayorinde Alao; and the Public Relations Officer, David Abiola, stated that the students? body would not sit back and watch any unauthorised gathering on campus or disruption of peace and academic activities.

The SUG officials, in the statement titled ?Letter of resistance and warning against National Youth Council of Nigeria protest within FUOYE,? specifically cautioned NYCN leadership against ?plans to turn FUOYE into a theatre of protests and gatherings.?

?The Governing Council has been weaponised for self-enrichment and impunity.

?This is not governance; it is a brazen financial scavenging operation,? Bankole alleged in the release.

He alleged that the Council Chairman had relocated all Council meetings and the ongoing Vice-Chancellorship selection process to Abuja in defiance of ministerial directives ? a move he called ?financial sabotage against the Nigerian state.?

Bankole also condemned what he termed ?the institutionalisation of sexual exploitation and abuse? within FUOYE, citing multiple alleged cases of harassment and cover-ups.

The NYCN and ASNYC declared that they were relocating their headquarters to the FUOYE campus until their demands are met.

Their demands include the immediate suspension of Prof. Fasina, removal of Senator Ndoma-Egba, a forensic audit of FUOYE?s finances, and an independent probe into sexual harassment allegations involving senior lecturers.

?We will not leave until every single demand is met,? Bankole vowed.

The protest comes amid a series of petitions by youth groups to President Bola Tinubu, the Minister of Education, and anti-graft agencies, alleging large-scale corruption, abuse of power, and manipulation of the Vice-Chancellorship selection process.

As of press time, the university authorities and the Governing Council had yet to issue an official response.

Efforts by our correspondent to get a reaction on this latest incident were futile, as calls to the Special Adviser on Media to the VC, Dr Wole Balogun, were not going through.

Meanwhile, PUNCH Online had also earlier reported in October that the varsity warned the leadership of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities in the institution to desist from peddling falsehood and malicious propaganda against the VC, whom they accused of political manoeuvring ahead of the forthcoming governorship election in the state. (PUNCH)

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