A Kogi State Polytechnic lecturer has been suspended for allegedly forcing students to buy textbooks before they would pass their examinations.

The Rector of the institution, Usman Salisu Ogbo, disclosed the lecturer’s suspension when the President, National Association of Nigeria Students (NANS), Comrade Sunday Asefon, alongside his entourage, paid the management of the polytechnic a courtesy visit on Thursday, September 9.

The Rector, who did not mention the name of the staff, said it is a clear injustice to the educational system for any lecturer to force students to pay for textbooks in order to pass their examinations.

He explained that some forces in the Polytechnic who are against his transformation agenda made several efforts to truncate the ban on the sale of textbooks to the students but failed.

Ogbo said: “We had cases whereby some lecturers would insist that if students failed to buy their textbooks, they would fail their examination. We also have cases whereby those students that bought books and those that did not buy will be separated. This is pure wickedness.

“Buying of textbooks is not a justification for students to pass their examination. We always encourage our students to read their books, that is why we insisted that lecturers who have books should place them in our school bookshops and not make it compulsory for students to buy them. Despite our clear intentions, some cabals are not happy.”