IT was hell for commuters in the Ugbowo axis of the Benin – Lagos Highway as for seven hours, students of the University of Benin barricaded the Main gate axis of the road which created a gridlock that stretched over three kilometres from both axes of the road while those familiar with the terrain tried to navigate other routes to their destinations. They were protesting the continuous power outage in the two campuses of the university which entered its third month and the cost of living.
The light bill was said to have jumped from about N80 million to N280 million, forcing the university to resort to power generators and rationalizing power on the two campuses and hostels for about three hours a day “We will not leave until something is done. We can’t afford to fail our exams because of the university’s negligence,” said Sarah Osaigbovo, a 300 level student of the Ugbowo campus.
The development forced the University Senate into an emergency where it set up a team to dialogue with the students on their complaints.