Nigerian students at Teesside University in the United Kingdom have been told to quit the school and return to Nigeria over unpaid fees.
The students were blocked from their studies and reported to the Home Office after the value of the Naira went down wiping out their savings.
According to BBC on Wednesday, May 22, a spokesperson of the University said failure to pay was a breach of visa sponsorship requirements, and that it had “no choice” but to alert the Home Office. The Home Office said visa sponsorship decisions rested with the institution.
A group of students, 60 of whom shared their names with the BBC, began pressing the university for support after some people who defaulted on payments were frozen out of university accounts and involuntarily withdrawn from their courses.
An affected student, Adenike Ibrahim, who was close to handing in her dissertation at the end of two years of study when she missed one payment, was kicked off her course and reported to the Home Office.
She said: “I did default [on payments], but I’d already paid 90% of my tuition fees and I went to all of my classes, I called them and asked to reach an agreement, but they do not care what happens to their students.
“It has been heartbreaking for my son especially, he has been in so much distress since I told him,” Ms Ibrahim added.
Another student, who preferred to remain anonymous, said he had considered suicide and was not drinking nor eating.
