A group of delegates from the Presidential Amnesty Programme posted to Gregory University Uturu in Abia state, Thursday, protested their alleged exclusion from an official list of students mobilized to the institution for the 2017/2018 academic session by the Amnesty office.
The aggrieved students who disrupted activities in the university,expressed shock at their exclusion from the list even after being successful in the qualifying examinations and interviews conducted by the Amnesty office, leading to their deployment to the institution.
According to them,”We successfully scaled through tests, interviews and other forms of documentation before we received text messages from the Amnesty office deploying us to Gregory University Uturu.”
“It is, therefore, shocking that after spending more than three months here and integrating ourselves into the academic life in GUU, the same Amnesty office is denying sending us here.”
Reacting to the development, the Deputy Vice Chancellor of Gregory University, Uturu, Prof Evaristus Anyaehie, stated that trouble started after the management communicated to the delegates the content of a letter from the Amnesty office duly signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, Charles Dokubo, conveying the information that only 34 out of a total number of 241 delegates initially deployed to the institution were captured in the Presidential Amnesty Programme data base.
He said,”The recent letter from the Amnesty office really surprised us since we acted in good faith on the strength of official letters from the office deploying these delegates to us and subsequently processed their admission through JAMB before organizing a statutory induction ceremony for them.
“Since their arrival three months ago, we have fully integrated them into our education curriculum by ensuring their participation in lectures, seminars, workshops and practicals while providing them accommodation and transportation, incurring huge costs in the process.
“Having contacted the Special Adviser, we are, however, hopeful that he will intervene to ensure the restoration of parity,”he added.
While answering questions from journalists, leaders of the affected delegates including Robinson Akonte Elkanah, Gift Sholuwa, Victor Awani, Samuel Cleopas, Christopher Adams, Kenneth Munemune and Inyie Ayaowei appealed to the Amnesty office to quickly resolve the impasse with the management of Gregory University Uturu to enable them continue their academic programme in the institution, in keeping with their resolve to shun violence and criminality.
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