University of Lagos (UNILAG) students have joined their counterparts from the University of Calabar (UNICAL) and University of Benin (UNIBEN) to protest power blackout on campus.
Converseer learned that the students, mostly of the College of Medicine, on Friday staged a protest following the disconnection of electricity by Eko Electricity Distribution Plc (EKEDC) due to unpaid bills by the University management.
According to SaharaReporters, the EKEDC disconnected the electricity supply to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) last Thursday because of outstanding bills.
The report stated that the university management paid N80 million on Thursday and an additional N50 million on Friday.
It was learnt that after the N130 million payment, there was still an outstanding bill of N145 million.
“Last Thursday, EKEDC disconnected LUTH’s electricity supply due to the inability to pay the light bills.
“Then students reached out to the school management and they said they disconnected the power supply due to the inability to pay EKEDC’s bill for May. The school management said they paid N80 million on Thursday and N50 million on Friday.
“The school management is now saying the remaining N145 million should be paid by the teaching hospital, LUTH and not the college of medicine,” one of the sources said.
“LUTH was using a power plant before, then they stopped using it because of the cost and debt. They joined the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, to be using power supplied by EKEDC. Now, they have owed so much again,” another source said.
“The combined bill was over N250 million, the College of Medicine has paid theirs but the teaching hospital, LUTH has not paid its own part. LUTH said they couldn’t pay, and that they were broke.
“Meanwhile, the bill should be covered jointly by LUTH and the College of Medicine, University of Lagos (CMUL).”
In videos circulating on social media and other platforms, the protesting UNILAG were chanting, “Give us our light, we want light.”
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Converseer reported earlier that on Monday, UNICAL students also staged a similar protest, blocking the Main Gate, over lack of electricity and water supply which has also affected the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH).
Meanwhile, on Thursday, UNIBEN students also embarked on a protest against lack of electricity supply, blocking Benin-Ore Highway, which caused the management to shut down academic activities indefinitely.
There have been reports of poor power supply across the nation even after the Distribution Companies (DISCOS) increased electricity tariff.