Court Orders UNICAL to Reinstate 214 Law Students Removed From Law Faculty

‎The Federal High Court in Abuja has directed the University of Calabar (UNICAL) to allow 214 students removed from its Faculty of Law to continue attending lectures and accessing academic facilities pending the determination of their case.

‎Justice Joyce Abdulmalik issued the interlocutory injunction on Monday after hearing arguments from lawyers representing the affected students and the university.

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‎The order requires UNICAL to provide the students with unrestricted access to lectures, their students’ portal and other academic resources while the case remains before the court. The judge also directed the parties to maintain the status quo and adjourned further hearing to November 25.

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‎The legal dispute followed UNICAL’s decision in August to remove 214 of its 435 second-year LL.B students from the Faculty of Law. The university said only 221 students had been formally admitted into the programme, while the affected 214 had originally gained admission into other departments before moving to Law.

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‎The university maintained that the students’ admission status could prevent them from gaining entry into the Nigerian Law School. The affected students, however, argued that UNICAL had accepted their fees, registered them for Law courses, allowed them to write examinations and permitted them to progress through the programme.

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‎They further claimed that the university directed them to complete Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) regularisation, which they said they did after paying the required fees.

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‎The students subsequently instituted a N5 billion suit against UNICAL, Vice-Chancellor Prof. Offiong Offiong, the registrar and President Bola Tinubu, seeking judicial protection for their continued studies in the Law programme.

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‎Premium Times reports that the case was adjourned until November 25 for further hearing.

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‎(Premium Times)