A 300 level student of dentistry and dental surgery at UNIBEN recounts how they were forcefully ejected from the hostel
Students of the faculty of medicine and dentistry experienced a crisis in early hours of Thursday when given a notice to evacuate the premises of the temporary accommodation (Hall 5) allocated to them was passed out without a solution to curb their distress especially the present third year medical and dental students preparing for their professional examination, which is around the corner.
The students had been earlier asked to pack out of the NDDC Medical Hostel 6 months ago on the condition that a massive renovation was being carried out and were promised that they will regain their spaces when the renovation is completed. By the current tidal movement, they are in grief as they are confuse on the recent development of the acclaimed hostel being allocated to students outside the medical field.
Dental student Efosa Ekhoe -omoragbon described the turn of event as evil and wicked, he said that on the commissioning of the Hostel, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan former governor of Delta state categorically stated that the hostel was built to alleviate the distress of medical students in the case of accommodation, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan called NDDC Medical Hostel a contribution to the progress of medical education in the south south, said Efosa.
“They told us to go and stay and in Hall 5 temporarily on the basis that our hostel will be reallocated to us immediately the renovation is completed, the Dean of students Prof Benson Osadolor has breached the agreement by realising a list of hostel allocation containing 90% non medical students’ said Tony Erahgbe, a sophomore medical students. Tony also said that a formal notice was passed across the school in form of a circular telling everyone to relinquish their temporal accommodation for legal occupants on Thursday March 29th and for them it was without a provision for NDDC Medical Hostel.
To the best of our knowledge, our hostel has already been given out to other students and we are left homeless.
Until night time, the medical students were still left abandoned at the entrance of the NDDC Medical Hostel. The Dean of students and the Dean of Medicine and Dentistry came around, but couldn’t placate the students with their hopeful promises.
The students have shown great solidarity as they have created a platform to prepare general meals that they all took few bites from even under the fierce bites from mosquitoes and other harmful animals. They have shown great disappointment as their professors as left them to dwell in an unsafe environment especially when there’s a restive cult situation in the school lately.
Security officers of the school have been mounted on ground acting from instructions from the school management. According to one of the officers, Mr Obazee Jude stated that they are strongly behind the students, but are only acting on the stringent directives of the school’s administration.
Until now nothing is being done and Friday happens to be a public holiday leaving the students to wonder what their fate is before Tuesday.