On Wednesday, University of Benin students took to the streets, blocking the busy Benin-Ore Highway to protest against weeks of power outage on campus.
With only two weeks until their first semester exams, the students expressed frustration at how the situation was affecting their preparation.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the university experienced a blackout due to a disagreement with the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) over electricity charges.
The university management was displeased with BEDC’s decision to increase the monthly electricity bill by more than 200%, causing it to skyrocket from N80 million to between N200 and N280 million.
In response, the university had to rely on power generators and implement power rationing on its campuses and hostels.
They said, “We only had one hour of electricity every day 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,” said John Afolabi, one of the protesting students.
The protest, which began early in the morning, saw students carrying placards and chanting slogans as they blocked the highway.
“We will not leave until something is done. We can’t afford to fail our exams because of the university’s negligence, said Sarah Osaigbovo, a 300 level student of the Ugbowo campus.”.
The protest caused a significant disruption to the free flow of vehicular movement, with many passengers stranded and unable to reach their destinations.
