A group of students from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, have filed a lawsuit against Governor Seyi Makinde and other officials over the relocation of the university’s Faculty of Agricultural Sciences to a new campus in Iseyin.
The second-year students were recently instructed to transfer to the new Faculty of Agricultural Science and Renewable Natural Resources in Iseyin for the current semester, prompting backlash.
The lawsuit, filed at the Oyo State High Court in Ogbomoso, lists four students – Akintayo Abdulqoyuum Ajibola, Onwi Edet, Ezekiel Ogunmola, and Aderemi Olude – as plaintiffs on behalf of over 200 affected students and parents.
Also named as defendants are the state commissioner for education, the LAUTECH acting vice chancellor, and the provost of the Iseyin campus.
The claimants are seeking a court injunction to halt the relocation by Governor Makinde’s administration. They argue the move unfairly disrupts their education midway through their programme.
While no hearing date has been set yet, the case underscores tensions between LAUTECH students and the state government over the controversial campus reorganisation. The students aim to block the agricultural faculty’s relocation slated for the new semester.
Authorities have defended the move as improving educational resources, but student plaintiffs contend it severely impacts them without prior consultation. The court’s ruling will determine the next steps in the contentious education policy.
