Akwa Ibom to review case of student expelled for ‘insulting’ governor

The Akwa Ibom state government says it has approved a panel to review the case of Iniobong Ekpo, the 500-level student, who was expelled for allegedly insulting Emmanuel Udom, the state governor, on Facebook.

Ekpo was in his final year at the varsity’s agricultural engineering department when he was expelled for his 2019 Facebook post about Udom which the university described as a “derogatory and defamatory article”.

He was first suspended indefinitely in September 2020 before his expulsion via a letter dated April 9, 2021.

In the article, Ekpo, under the pseudonym “Afrosix Jaara”, had accused Udom of failing to make good on a 2017 monetary reward he had pledged to the then-graduating students of the university who proved to be outstanding.

Reacting to his expulsion, Ekpo had given the varsity seven days to restore his studentship or face a lawsuit.

He had demanded N20 million from the varsity through his lawyer as damages for “the breach of his fundamental rights.”

According to Premium Times, Idongesit Etiebet, Akwa Ibom commissioner for education, said Udom was not aware of Ekpo’s expulsion.

Commenting about the development on Wednesday, the commissioner also stated that Udom has now approved the constitution of a five-man panel to review the university’s action.

“In the meantime, students of the state-owned institution are advised to be law-abiding and go about their normal academic activities without any fear of intimidation,” the commissioner was quoted to have said.