Unauthorised levies are still being collected by the College of Health Technology Calabar in spite of the severe warning issued by the Cross River State administration.
Ogoja College of Nursing Sciences students were subjected to suspected unlawful levies around two weeks ago. Dr. Henry Egbe Ayuk, the Commissioner for Health, strongly condemned the situation, calling it a breach of government standards and an egregious misuse of trust.
A video that went viral and was extensively shared on social media revealed what seemed to be student extortion without any proof of payment.
Many parents, students, and members of the public were incensed by the incident and demanded immediate action.
The commissioner thus issued an order mandating that all state health institutions immediately cease their unlawful collection.
Additionally, he ordered that any unauthorised payments be given to the impacted students in full and without justification.
Outraged by the disclosures, the Health Commissioner declared that a comprehensive panel of investigation would be formed to uncover the extent of the corruption and prosecute those responsible.
He had recommended that any organisation involved in such ignominious activities cease it right now and give the victims their money back.
Findings from the College of Health Technology in Calabar, however, showed that the warning has gone unheeded by instructors and examiners.
It is stated that students enrolled in the National Diploma and Higher National Diploma programs who are sitting the current exams are being forced to pay instructors between N10,000 and N15,000 each to “sort” their courses, failing which they risk failing.
Additional research showed that a number of people are also forced to purchase handouts or books written by certain lecturers, which they said they had already purchased during earlier lectures.
Some of the students told The Intercept that the extortion had persisted and that they had repeatedly requested help from department heads and other school officials, but to no effect.
The students said a few days ago, they had challenged a particular lecturer who came to exam class, insisting that they must each pay N15,000 for his course or risk failure.
“We see this as significant extortion. Many of us have paid our school fees and other official charges, like departmental fees, yet we are still burdened with compulsory and illegal fees which we can’t afford.
“In our class, we are over 50. If you multiply N15,000 by that number, you will be surprised by the staggering amount somebody will go home with, an amount that is not their monthly salary.
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“Of course, some of us have stamped our feet. We won’t pay. We’ll resist intimidation and excessive extortion,” one of them said.
Another female student alleged that many of the lecturers hardly attended classes, yet they would demand money to ‘sort’ their courses.
According to him, there is too much corruption in the school.
An official in the office of the provost, who gave his name as Dr John, denied that the school authorised such illegal extortion.
“It is not true that the school authorities know such demands allegedly placed by some lecturers.
“The school has usually cautioned against any form of extortion.
“I am sure that such allegations will be looked into by the school”, he said.
