Fifteen final-year law students at Imo State University (IMSU), Owerri, have been expelled from the institution over their alleged involvement in various forms of examination fraud.
A Catholic priest of Orlu Diocese and a lecturer in the university’s Department of Management Sciences was among the students booted out of the institution.
According to a source at the university, the expulsion of the students was announced before Christmas Day.
The source said that the official of the school who carried out the expulsion threatened to sue its management if the expulsion was not ratified.
The source, who described the rustication as ‘very harsh” however acknowledged the fact that the students were guilty as charged.
It insisted that the affected 15 students should not be made scapegoats as most of the students including those in other departments engaged in similar fraud.
Some of the affected students is said to have hired people to sit examinations for them while others used their mobile telephones during examinations.
“The Catholic priest hired a ‘mercenary’ to take an examination on his behalf. According to him, the insecurity in the Orlu axis of the state stopped him from travelling to Owerri to sit the examination.
“The Reverend Father was said to be driving to Owerri when his vehicle was shot at by unknown gunmen leading to his inability to eventually present himself at the examination hall on the fateful day.
“Also, the cabal that championed the expulsion opposed the female lecturer studying law whilst in the employ of the same university,” the source said.
