The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the University of Calabar (UNICAL) to restore unrestricted access to lectures, academic portals and other facilities for 214 students removed from its Faculty of Law.

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik issued the interlocutory injunction on Monday after hearing arguments from lawyers representing the affected students and the university.

The order followed a suit filed by Chidi Glad and 213 other students challenging the university’s decision to remove them from the Law faculty and return them to the faculties and departments where they were originally admitted.

The students had earlier approached the court after UNICAL management directed the 214 students to leave the Law programme, saying they were not among the students officially admitted into the faculty.

The dispute arose after the university determined that only 221 of the 435 students in the second-year Bachelor of Laws programme had been officially admitted into Law, while the remaining 214 students had entered the faculty from other departments.

UNICAL subsequently directed the affected students to return to their original departments. The university also temporarily restricted their access to academic portals, while offering either a refund of their 2025/2026 school fees or free tuition for the 2026/2027 academic session if they returned to their former programmes.

The students, however, rejected the arrangement and filed a suit seeking, among other reliefs, reinstatement in the Law faculty and N5 billion in damages.

They argued that they had been admitted, accepted their offers, paid the required fees, registered for Law courses, attended lectures, completed assessments and sat examinations under the university’s supervision.

They also said they had complied with a directive to regularise their admissions through the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board.

The students further argued that they were removed from the Law faculty without being given prior notice or an opportunity to defend themselves, maintaining that they had not been accused or found guilty of examination malpractice, academic misconduct or any other offence.

The latest court order directs UNICAL to grant the 214 students unrestricted access to lectures, their students’ portals and other academic facilities while the substantive case remains before the court.

The interim order does not finally determine whether the students are entitled to remain in the Law faculty. That substantive dispute is still before the court.