The Governing Council of the Federal Polytechnic, Ede, Osun, has converted the expulsion of 27 students of the institution to suspension for the 2023/2024 academic session.
The council also pardoned four students who were earlier suspended by the school management.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the school management had on July 27, announced the expulsion of 27 students and suspension of eight others over their roles in the May 9 violent protest in the institution.
Some students had protested against the arrest of their colleagues by the operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) in Owode, a community near the institution.
During the protest, the staff club of the polytechnic was attacked and several vehicles were damaged by the students.
However, the council at its inaugural sitting on August 21 constituted an ad hoc committee to look into the circumstances that led to the expulsion and suspension of the students.
Addressing a news conference on Friday at the institution premises, Prof. Taiwo Olaiya, the Chairman of the Governing Council, said the affected students were pardoned based on the recommendations of the ad hoc committee.
Olaiya added that the earlier ban placed on students’ unions in the school had also been lifted.
He said that the school management had been directed to constitute faculty representatives who would see to the affairs of the union till the end of the current semester.
Olaiya also said that the council also ratified the recommendation of the committee which mandated all the students of the institution to pay ₦10,000 damages to serve as a deterrent.
“The council ratified the recommendation of the committee, and the resolution is that the expulsion of the 27 students has been converted into suspension for the 2023/2024 academic session.
“For those who were earlier suspended, they have been fully pardoned with a warning not to involve themselves in such acts again.
“Also, the council has lifted the ban placed on student union activities in the institution following the protest.
“The polytechnic management has been directed to constitute a body of the faculty representatives that will hold forth, the union position between now and the end of the semester.”
“Finally, all students of the institution are to pay ₦10,000 each as damages to serve as a deterrent against such ugly incidents in the future,” he said.