Isah Abubakar Tunga, the Commissioner for Higher Education, gave an explanation of the reasoning behind the school’s closure.

In response to a violent protest on Thursday, the Kebbi State Government has ordered the College of Health Sciences, Jega, to close permanently.

The students protested about allegations that certain courses were not accredited and about what they perceived to be extortion by the school administration.

The government has appointed a nine-member commission of investigation headed by Hussaini Abdullahi Suru, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry for Higher Education, to look into the incident.

On Friday, Suru informed the media that the panel’s tasks included determining what sparked the demonstration, who was in charge of it, which teachers were participating, outside influences, and how much property damage the university had sustained.

The reasoning behind the school’s closure was given by Isah Abubakar Tunga, Commissioner for Higher Education.

“The closure of the college became imperative in view of the fact that if the demonstration was allowed to continue, it might escalate to an uncontrollable level.”

He also disclosed that the college provost was the subject of a violent demonstration. “They are mostly after the provost. Both his house and his automobile were severely vandalised by them.

“To save his life, the local Divisional Police Officer (DPO) had to transport the provost to the police station,” Tunga stated.

Two weeks are allotted to the panel to finish its inquiry and provide recommendations. Justice would be served within the allotted time, the panel’s chairman promised.

In the meanwhile, on Thursday, DAILYPULSE revealed that irate students from the College of Health Sciences and Technology in Jega, Kebbi State, had set fire to Provost Haruna Saidu-Sauwa’s home. The students were accused of extorting N23 million in fees.

The provost’s car was also vandalised by the students during the disturbances.

Allegations of extortion by the college administration, requesting N23 million for students’ index registration, are said to have started the uproar.

The claims arose after the Environmental Health department and the recently established Public Health program combined, causing students to pay an extra N65,000 on top of the N30,000 they had previously paid.

Students retaliated by stoning cars and setting the provost’s house on fire, accusing the college of extortion.

According to a college source, students became frustrated as a result of this increased financial demand, which was the genesis of the disturbance. Before security personnel could come to re-establish order, some college employees left.