The management of Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo (RUGIPO), Ondo State, has shut down the school.
Acting Registrar of the Polytechnic, Sule Atiku, said this in a press statement on Tuesday.
Mr Atiku said the management took the decision to avert crises that might arise following a protest by the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), RUGIPO chapter on Monday.
The school was originally scheduled to begin first semester examinations for the 2018/2019 academic session on Monday before the protest began.
“In view of this development, all students of the institution are hereby advised to vacate the institution not later than 3:00 p.m., today, Tuesday, June 18, 2019.
“This closure has become imperative in order for council and management to forestall any breakdown of law and order within the institution’s environment,” Atiku said.
Chairman of ASUP in the polytechnic, Oluwadare Ijawoye, told newsmen that the association was only expressing its grievances toward “opposition, injustice and ill treatment” from the school management.
Ijawoye said the policies and decisions of the polytechnic’s acting rector, Gani Ogundahunsi, were hostile and against the welfare of ASUP members in the school.
He said that the management withheld almost N500 million out of N1.7 billion released by Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu to offset nine months’ salary arrears and emoluments of the institution’s staff.
