214 students drag UNICAL to court, demand N5bn over removal from Law faculty

214 students of the University of Calabar (UNICAL) have dragged the institution before the Federal High Court in Abuja over their removal from the Faculty of Law, seeking N5 billion in damages for alleged mental distress and financial losses.

The students also asked the court to restrain UNICAL management from restricting access to their portals or taking any action that would affect their status as law students.

In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1825/2026, filed on August 12 by their lawyer, Bernard Okpi, the students listed UNICAL, its Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Offiong Offiong, the Registrar, and President Bola Tinubu as defendants.

The claimants are seeking declarations that their admissions into the Faculty of Law, acceptance of admission offers, payment of fees, course registration, and participation in lectures and examinations constitute valid legal contracts with the university.

They also want the court to declare that the current Vice-Chancellor cannot invalidate admissions, JAMB regularisation approvals and other official actions carried out under his predecessor, Prof. Florence Obi.

In an affidavit deposed to by one of the claimants, Ogana Lukpata, the students said they were admitted into the Faculty of Law during the 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 academic sessions.

The students said they accepted their admissions, paid all required fees, registered courses, attended lectures, completed assessments, and passed examinations, with some progressing to 300 Level.

According to Lukpata, the university later directed them to undergo JAMB regularisation, which they completed after paying the required fees.

However, he alleged that on August 5, 2026, the university directed the 214 students to return to the departments where they were originally admitted after discovering irregularities in their admissions.

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He said the decision followed a meeting involving the university management, Faculty of Law, and the affected students, where the Vice-Chancellor reportedly stated that only 221 of the 435 second-year Law students were officially admitted into the programme.

Lukpata further alleged that UNICAL immediately deactivated the affected students’ result portals, denying them access to academic records, learning platforms, and other university services.

Lukpata said the institution also informed them they would not qualify for admission into the Nigerian Law School if they remained in the Faculty of Law.

Although the university offered to refund their 2025/2026 school fees or grant them free tuition in their original departments for the 2026/2027 session, the students rejected the offer.

They argued that they were never given prior notice, invited to any disciplinary hearing or found guilty of any misconduct before the decision was taken.

The students maintained that they acted in good faith throughout the admission process and questioned why university officials responsible for processing their admissions had not been investigated instead of punishing them.

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik has been assigned to hear the matter, but no hearing date has been fixed.