Abuja varsity students protest lack of water, power

Students of the University of Abuja on Monday protested the lack power and water supply to the permanent campus site of the university. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that more than 1,000 students gathered on the campus about 8am on Monday and barricaded road leading to the Senate building and classes. Some of them told NAN that the protest became necessary because the school authorities had not provided power and water at the campus for three months running. Mr Mike Ajeoja, a Theatre student, said those of them living in hostel at the permanent site had no power and water for the past three months. Ajeoja said they had drawn the attention of the school management to their plight, but nothing had been done to address the situation. “We are left with no choice then to come out and tell the world our problems. “We will not stop the protest unless our problems are solved,” he said. A female student, who pleaded for anonymity, said she had not had her bath for some days as a result of lack of water. According to her, some of students use sachet water to bath, cook and even wash clothes. “We are tired of staying without water and light. We wear squeezed clothes to the classes and we do not want such situation to continue,” she added. The Information Officer of the school, Mr Waziri Garba, confirmed the situation to NAN on telephone, saying the students were protesting lack of power and water supply in the school. Garba, however, appealed to them to remain calm, assuring that the school management was already taking steps to resolve the problem. Meanwhile, Baro Ahmad, the Business Manager, Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, Gwagwalada, said it was not true that the school had no power for three months running. He blamed power outage on the campus on some electrical problems which, he said, the company was working on. Ahmad assured the students and school management that steady power would be restored to the campus. “By 4 p.m. today (Monday), there will be steady power supply to the permanent site,” he said.