Akwa Ibom state government has set up five-man committee to investigate the alleged expulsion of a final year student from Akwa Ibom state university for insulting Governor Emmanuel Udom on Facebook.
The Panel is to be headed by the Honourable Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Idongesit Etiebet.”
The student, Ekpo Iniobong Isang, who was studying agricultural engineering at the institution, had written a Facebook article in 2019 with the pseudonym ‘Afrosix Jaara’, accusing the Governor of reneging on a promise he allegedly made in 2017 to give financial reward to the then graduating students of the university.
He was first suspended and then expelled over the article which the university’s institution said was a “breach” of the matriculation oath and a violation of the university rules and regulations enshrined in the Student Information Handbook.
The expulsion letter signed on April 9, 2021, read in part;
“ this act constitutes a breach of the matriculation oath and violation of the university rules and regulations enshrined in the Student Information Handbook.
You are hereby expelled from the university for this act of gross misconduct………”
Meanwhile, Isang claimed that the university authorities did not give him a fair hearing and never inviting him to defend himself.
The statement released by the commissioner for education, Idongesit I. Etiebet read;
“following reports of the dismissal of a final year student of the faculty of engineering, Akwa Ibom state university (AKSU); Ekpo Iniobong Isang by the Senate of the institution for gross misconduct, His Excellency the governor, Mr Udom Emmanuel has approved the constitution of a five man panel to review the remote and immediate cause of the action.
For the avoidance of doubt, we wish to state emphatically that the governor of Akwa Ibom state Mr Udom Emmanuel, was not aware of Iniobong’s expulsion, as such a matter had not previously been brought to his attention.
In the meantime, students of the state owned institution are advised to be law abiding and go about their normal academic activities without fear of intimidation.”
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