Suleiman Abba, Inspector-General of Police

A protest embarked upon by students of the Delta State Polytechnic, Ozoro, on Wednesday resulted in the arrest of 39 of them by officers of the Nigeria Police. It also resulted in the shutting down of the institution by one week.

The protest arose from the management’s decision to increase the institution’s tuition.

Some of the aggrieved students said the protest resulted from an announcement that ND 2 students would begin to pay N50,000 with fresh students when the institution resumes its new academic calendar.

For those in HND 2 who paid N60,000 while in HND 1, the institution wants them to repeat same payment when they resume, according to student sources.

The protest had earlier been quelled by the police, but the students allegedly re-grouped and, this time, burnt down the school’s security post forcing the police to act even though some of the arrested students say they are innocent as they did not partake in the crisis.

The arrest of the students was confirmed by the state Police Public Relations Officer, Celestina Kalu.