The Federal High Court in Ibadan, Oyo State, has directed the University of Ibadan to reinstate three students who were suspended for protesting tuition fee increases.
Justice Nkeonye Maha issued the ruling on Wednesday, during the court session in Ibadan, the state capital.
The students affected by the suspension are Aduwo Ayodele, Mide Gbadegesin, and Nice Linus.
According to media reports, the students were suspended on July 14, 2025, by the university management after they protested the university’s fee hike, which was endorsed by the institution’s governing council.
The protest, which began at midnight, was reportedly sparked by a circular from the council’s secretary, G.O. Saliu.
The circular indicated that the council had “considered the reviewed schedule of levies for newly admitted and returning undergraduate students in the 2023/2024 academic session and approved it as recommended by the university Senate.”
The circular also added, “Consequently, students who are yet to pay and complete their registration exercises are advised to do so on or before Wednesday, September 4, 2024, to enable departments to download lists of registered students in preparation for the first semester examination.”
However, in their lawsuit, the students argued that their suspension violated their fundamental human rights and requested the court to quash the decision.
The order they sought included: “A declaration that the refusal during the sittings of the 1st Respondent’s Student Disciplinary Committee and the Central Student Disciplinary Committee to allow the Applicants call witnesses and present video footage of what transpired on 13th of May, 2024, constitutes egregious infringement of the Applicants’ right to fair hearing guaranteed under Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.”
“AN ORDER SETTING ASIDE in its entirety the 1st Respondent’s Central Student Disciplinary Committee’s decisions dated 14th of July, 2025 to wit; rusticating the 1st and 2nd Applicants for four semesters, mandating them to write an undertaking of good behaviour, not to meddle with Student Union matters and to undergo mandatory professional counselling at the 1st Respondent’s Career Development and Counselling Centre, being decisions reached in proceedings bereft of fair hearing and natural justice.”
“AN ORDER OF THE HONOURABLE COURT forthwith reinstating the Applicants’ full studentship rights and privileges within the 1st Respondent with immediate effect to wit, attend lectures, write examinations and participate in student union activities for the advancement of their lawful interest.”
“AN ORDER OF PERPETUAAL INJUNCTION restraining the Respondents whether by themselves or through their agents from further subjecting the Applicants to the 1st Respondent’s Student Disciplinary Committee and or the Central Student Disciplinary Committee on account of the exercise of their rights to freedom of thought and expression guaranteed under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.”
“The sum of N20m damages jointly and severally against the Respondents for the infringement of the Applicants’ constitutionally guaranteed rights to dignity of their human person, personal liberty, fair hearing, freedom of thought, freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, freedom of movement, and freedom from discrimination guaranteed under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended. EXEMPLARY DAMAGES of N5m personally against the 2nd Respondent for flagrant disregard of the law and constitutional provisions of the cherished principles of natural justice.”
Justice Maha, in her ruling, stated that the university’s management violated the students’ rights by denying them a fair hearing in the Central Disciplinary Committee.
She stated, “I hereby set aside the decision of the Disciplinary Committee and order the reinstatement of the suspended students.”
In the meantime, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has lauded the judiciary for overturning the unlawful rustication of the UI student activists who had spoken out against the ongoing victimisation of Nice Linus, who held a placard reading “No To Fee Hike” during a student gathering last year.
CAPPA, in a statement issued on Wednesday in Ibadan, called on the university to comply immediately with the court’s ruling, reinstate the students, and offer a public apology for its misconduct.
“The judgment strongly affirms students’ constitutional rights to freedom of thought and expression, as guaranteed under Sections 38 and 39 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).”
“Justice Maha, who delivered the judgment on Wednesday, referenced the students’ testimony that they were dragged out of the hall by the university’s internal security and handed them over to a waiting mob who beat them to a stupor and insulted them.”
“The trio were then profiled on the spot as criminals and eventually handed over to soldiers of the Operation Bust unit as dangerous cultists. Importantly, the judge noted that the university authorities “did not deny these damning allegations.”
“The court’s decision sends an unequivocal message to the University of Ibadan and other oppressive academic institutions nationwide that tyranny and the use of authoritarian tactics to stifle legitimate dissent is unlawful, unacceptable and will not stand,” said Zikora Ibeh, CAPPA’s Assistant Executive Director.
