OAU Students to Sue Institution for Blocking Their e-Portals

In one of the first lawsuits of its kind, two students of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Olowolafe Dunsin (Dunnex) and Owoeye Olaoluwa (Olamarx), are suing the institution for denying them access to the university portals.

Mr Dunsin and Mr Olaoluwa have been unable to use their university-issued portals since October 2018 and all efforts to find out why have proven futile.

Both students are currently enrolled in the institution and have been vocal critics of the current Vice Chancellor’s style of leadership. Many suspect this is the reason why they are being locked out, but the management has failed to state why they have been shut out from the university’s online academic ecosystem.

In January, when this correspondent spoke to Mr Dunsin, he revealed that he had met with both the Dean, Professor Aransi and Vice Dean, Dr S.A Oluwatosin.

“My e-portal was blocked towards the end of October and I’ve met with the Dean twice, he told me to figure out my offence. I also met with the Vice Dean, he told me to give him my mum’s number. I asked him how my mum’s number relates to my offence but he told me it was a personal issue. Till date, I haven’t been told my offence,” he said.

Mr Olaoluwa also gave a similar account. He noted that they were told it was a disciplinary action when they visited the school’s Information and Communications Technology department but the Division of Students’ Affairs (DSA) failed to state the actions they were being disciplined for.

“There is nothing much to say, my portal and Dunnex Samuel’s were illegally blocked, we went to a computer, they said it’s a disciplinary action from the office of the DSA. We met the Dean, DSA at first, he said we should go and look for what we did but he also said we should come back the following Monday.”

“On our return, he still insisted that we should go and look for what we’ve done and he even said we should leave his office that he doesn’t know us, so we left. Since then we’ve been going to his office without being paid attention.”

As a result of this, the affected students are now looking to pursue the matter legally, as Mr Olaoluwa has already given the institution an ultimatum to restore his access to the institution’s e-portal, through his legal team. Mr Dunsin has also confirmed that he is seeking legal means.

“We’ve written to school several times without response and as it stands our lawyers have written to the school and have given the school ultimatum to do the needful,” Mr Olaoluwa,  said.

The blockage has had some negative effects on the students as they have been unable to access their portals to pay fees, check results and complete other necessary tasks. Mr Dunsin told this correspondent that he was unable to write some examinations, due to his inability to access the portal to confirm the courses.

Meanwhile, the Dean, Division of Students’ Affairs (DSA) failed to respond to calls and text messages from this correspondent.