Covenant University expels 200 students for not attending Church service

By Ishola Balogun

*Students beg, Parents react…

* School declines comment

*I’m not aware — Prof Okojie, NUC boss

About 200 students may have been expelled by the authorities of Covenant University, Cannanland, Ota, Ogun State, recently for what was described as “disregard of paramount core values.”

Frustrated and angered by the development, some of the affected students who gave account of what happened battled emotions while narrating their situations to Saturday Vanguard recently. They however pleaded with the school authorities to tamper justice with mercy in order to save their future.

Saturday Vanguard investigation revealed that out of the figure, about 126 were expelled for not attending the ‘departure service’, meant to sign off from the school after the end of the Semester and Matriculation of students on November 30.  Five other students were thrown out for smoking while unconfirmed source said additional 60 got the same fate for violating other rules bordering on the University’s  core Christian values. A few others were given four weeks suspension for failure to sign the head count that was conducted a couple of weeks earlier.

A letter of expulsion signed by the Registrar, a copy which was made available to Saturday Vanguard stated that the affected students contravened Chapter 1, section 30, page 40 of the 2010-2014 Student Handbook.

We gathered that the massive expulsion was predicated on the anger of the Chancellor, Bishop David Oyedepo who was said to have been infuriated after seeing students loitering around when they were supposed to be at the Chapel for the Departure Service.

He was said to have personally chased students to the Chapel and ordered for a search into all the halls and colleges to fish out those who did not attend the service.

Several attempts to get the school authorities comment on the issue proved abortive.  The Instituion’s Corporate Affairs Head, Mr Igban Emmaunel also refused to comment as calls pulled through to him were unanswered and text messages not replied.

How it happened

A few of the affected students gave account of what happened to Saturday Vanguard at different points.  The similar accounts go thus:  “On November 30, the last day of the semester, preceding our December break, there was also a Matriculation for the 100 level students; in fact some students had their last semester exams on that day, some of them finished around 3:00pm while the matriculation started around 8am. Some students retired to their rooms to relax while some engaged in some other activities jubilating the end of the semester.

“Some also got drinks from the matriculating students. Even as these were going on, some students who finished around 3pm retired to their halls. By 5pm, they announced that we should get prepared for the ‘Departure service’ which was to start by 8pm. Some students were already seeing their parents off while some of us were just trying to relax to get off the stress of the exams.

“Most of us hadn’t gotten through the tiredness of the sleepless nights of the exams; so, some us stayed back in our rooms. The departure service is usually a day before we go home and it is usually presided over by the Chancellor. Before the commencement of the service, they used to lock up the main doors of the halls so as to prevent cases of theft. I was not bothered since there were a lot of us in the hall. Some minutes past 8pm, they switched off the light and all of us in the hall went into our rooms. Because of the darkness and the cold, I slept off immediately.”

He continued: “The persistent knocks on the door woke me up and I realised that they had come to search for people who had not come to service. Before I realised what was going on, I found myself with other students numbering about 30. They took down our names and counted us to make sure that no one was omitted. They said the Chancellor was at the service and we refused to come. I heard them talking about other halls and they asked us to wait. I didn’t take it seriously because I never believed in my widest imagination that we would be expelled. We were later asked to go to our various halls.

“Some of those who went into hiding were lucky as they were not found. Shortly, those who went for the service returned and told us there was poor attendance at the Chapel and how students were diving in through the windows, scampering for seats. In fact, one narrated to us how the Chancellor jumped through the window to vent his anger on some students who had jumped in,” he stated.

Another expelled student also gave similar account of the incident. “I couldn’t go to the service because, I was not feeling well which was as a result of the stress of the exams we had just finished. After a while, I managed to go but I heard that they started driving people back around 7:30pm while the service was to start around 8pm. I was surprised because the rule was that you’ve got to be seated 15minutes to the service. Again, it was never made compulsory, but they tried to get students out of the halls to prevent cases of theft. So, because I was not feeling well, I went back to my room because I needed to rest for a while.

“I thought it was a  joke when they said we are in for expulsion because we failed to come for departure service. I have never done anything contrary to the school laws. I have never faced any panel before  and neither did I have any unpleasant case in my file. I never thought it was real until letters were handed to me the  following morning.”

Giving account of how letters were handed out to them, the visibly troubled student said: “By 6am, they announced the names of  those who were caught in halls and colleges. Usually after the departure service, one can sign out from there and go but because it ended late and no one could travel, students had to wait till the  following  morning. But the hall officer told those of us whose names were written down that if we leave, we should  be considered gone from the university forever. That gave us an insight into what was likely to come as punishment. By 7:45am, we were called once again to go downstairs for our letters. Those who collected theirs before mine were crying and I wondered what the punishment could be until I read the letter stating I was expelled from the university.”

compulsory part of students’ spiritual development where a bible and notebook are essential kits for the service. Students are expected to demonstrate a deep reverence for God at all  times.” The school declines comment Several attempts were made to get the school authorities comment on the issue. The institution’s Corporate/Public Affairs Officer, declined comment. At first, several calls were pulled through to him but he refused to pick his calls. When the reporter persisted, he later picked but said he was driving and could not answer any question. But few hours later, other calls pulled to him were unanswered. A text message was sent to his phone and up to the time of writing this report, he did not reply. __,_._,___