There was pandemonium at the Kogi State Polytechnic on Monday following the invasion of over 50 suspected thugs allegedly loyal to the incumbent rector, Isah Mohammed.
DAILY POST reliably gathered that the suspected thugs disrupted the sitting of the Governing Council, which earlier planned to deliberate whether to support or reject the re-appointment of the present rector whose tenure is expected to expire this week.
The council, which later moved to an undisclosed venue for their meeting reportedly invited the men of the Nigeria Police to dislodge the invaders who were armed with dangerous weapons and took positions at strategic locations chanting war songs.
The thugs numbering over 50 were allegedly on the order of the rector to prevent the Governing Council from taking actions against his reappointment bid.
It was learnt that the Governing Council, which has been inundated with plethora of complaints against his candidature may have foreclosed his reappointment and was to use the meeting to advertise for his replacement even as his first tenure expired this week.
According to a source, the rector who had been accused of incompetence, gross misconduct and highhandedness, reportedly used some students and stooge within the school to organise protests and even endorsed his eligibility on a paid radio advertisement.
The source, who does not want his name in print, stated that the Rector who got the wind of the position of the Governing Council against his eligibility for second term, decided to bring in thugs and street urchins to wreak havoc on the members of the governing Councils who swiftly brought in the law enforcement agents to bring the situation under control.
The source noted that the 27 years old polytechnics has been turned into a theater of war under the administration of Isah Mohammed, who has been boasting power from above would stop at nothing than to extend his tenure for the second term, the statement that has severally caused disquiet among lecturers and key management staff.
However, the Public Relations officer of the School, Luke Tijani, who confirmed the development, said the tension was as a result of the expiration of the tenure of the rector Isah Mohammed.
It would be recalled that sometimes in July the polytechnics was turned to war of posters, flyers which were circulated by the groups that were against the rector, asking the governor and visitor to the school, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, not to reappoint him for his high handedness and lack of knowledge in the polytechnics administration.
Sources said majority of those clamouring for a change in the school were members of staff, who felt that the institution did not witness development in the first four years of the rector.
The argument of the antagonists of the rector was that there was the need to raise the bar in the institution to compete favourably with its peers in the country.
The president of the National Association of Kogi State Students (NAKOSS), Kogi State polytechnic chapter, Usman Attaja, confirmed the poster war on the campus.
All attempts to reach the Kogi state police command Public Relations officer William Aya through his cell phone proved abortive.
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