Students of Ebonyi State University Abakaliki (EBSU) have rejected a N250,000 developmental levy and other levies recently introduced by the school management.

The students said the exorbitant developmental levies have led to an increase in their tuition fees.

It was gathered that in the new developmental level introduced by the management, students were expected to pay between N250, 000 and N50,000 and N10,000 accreditation fees apart from their normal tuition fees.

The students rejected the new levies and vowed to organise a protest to register their displeasure over the action of the university management.

But National Association of Nigerian Students(NANS), South East/South-South disassociated itself from the protest and warned the students against it.

It noted that it has already commenced negotiation on the matter with the school management.

Zone B NANS Coordinator Alfred Nwuruku disclosed this at the College of Agricultural Science of the university while addressing journalists at the weekend after constituting a joint campus committee of the National Association of Nigerian Students of Ebonyi state chapter.

He said “the students of Ebonyi state university never paid what we know today as a developmental levy. I think this was part of the resolution and recommendation made by the registration committee set up last year to visit schools in the South East and return to the government with the recommendation. This recommendation was accepted by the management and they initiated this levy.

‘On record, it has never been in existence in Ebonyi state university. This is the first of its kind. Though instances were cited that other schools are paying it but our grievance is: why must it be a bad policy that we will inherit on resumption of academic activity?

"The price they tag is Medicine is to pay N250,000, Law N250,000 same thing to other departments till the least is N50,000 and accreditation fees for continuous students is N10,000 till you graduate. So, that is the issue on the ground and our students are saying that they are not going to pay it.

As a leadership, I waited for the SUG President to respond, they responded. A congress has been called on the first of February wherein all the students are going to be available and their position paper will be raised and same will be communicated and transmitted on-air and also that is what will inform the basis we are going to stand as the leadership of National Association of Nigeria Students to also interface with the management.

‘We are aware of what is going on and we are on top of the matter, we will not go to the street and we also warn any student who has already planned to engage in protest as a final resolution to desist from it. Our leadership is not aware of any protest and anyone that will arise tomorrow, anyone that will start today, we disassociate ourselves from it. We will continue to seek the rules of engagement while we seek justice to be done.’