There was subdued calm at the Alvan Ikoku University of Education (AIUE), Owerri, Imo State, on Monday, following the reversal of the varsity’s status to a Federal College of Education by the Federal Government.
A battery of policemen and military personnel surrounded the entire Owerri campus of the institution, which had been mired in weeks of uncertainties over its actual university status, as the students and workers staged non-violent protests and demonstrations when rumours began filtering in that the institution would be reversed.
The rumours have now become real, as the Federal Government announced Monday that the varsity upgrade should be put on hold.
The announcement further asked the former provost, Blessing Ijioma, who had held forth for nearly a decade, to return to her seat; while the then vice chancellor, Sadiq Abubakar, would go back to his former university.
At Alvan campus, BusinessDay observed that at least eight police patrol vehicles and an army van had emptied themselves of armed security men into and around the College premises. Students were seen milling around, with no serious lectures going on. Most of the academic staff members were not available to deliver their lectures.
No statement could be gleaned from the office of the provost, Ijioma, who would just be too excited to return to her exalted seat, after she reluctantly vacated it in June, when much pressure was brought on her.
