The Federal High Court sitting in Calabar has described the actions of the University of Calabar (UNICAL) in admitting students into unaccredited engineering programmes as fraudulent, reckless and deceitful, ordering the institution to pay N55 million in damages to eight affected students.
The ruling ended a five-year legal battle between the university and the students, popularly known as the “UNICAL 8,” who instituted the suit after discovering that the engineering programmes to which they were admitted lacked accreditation.
Delivering judgment on Wednesday in suit No. FHC/CA/CS/117/21, Justice R. O. Dugbo-Oghoghorie held that the university failed in its duty of care to the students and misled them into enrolling in programmes that had not been approved by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN).
The suit was filed in 2021 by Idiong Ekpedeme Godwin and seven others against the university, its former Vice Chancellor, Prof. Florence Obi, and four other defendants.
The students told the court that they had relied on faculty handbooks and other public representations which suggested that the engineering programmes were fully operational.
However, after reaching their 300 and 400 levels, a resource verification exercise by the NUC revealed that the programmes had not been authorised.
Following the discovery, the students were directed to “step down” to 200 level, while some departments were later scrapped entirely, leaving them without a clear path to graduation despite years of study and payment of tuition.
Justice Dugbo-Oghoghorie dismissed the university’s defence that the students were ignorant of the accreditation process, ruling that the institution acted in bad faith by admitting them into programmes that lacked the required approval.
“The sixth defendant recklessly and without regard allowed innocent students to fall victim to their acts,” the judge held, stressing that no university should operate an academic programme without prior approval from the NUC.
The court noted that evidence before it showed that full accreditation for the engineering programmes was only secured during the 2024/2025 accreditation cycle, several years after the affected students should ordinarily have graduated.
Justice Dugbo-Oghoghorie consequently awarded the plaintiffs N50 million in general damages and N5.247 million in special damages for the psychological trauma and academic disruption they suffered.
However, the court declined the request to halt the operations of the Faculty of Engineering, noting that the programmes have since secured accreditation.
It also ruled that the prayer seeking the students’ re-absorption into their original departments had been overtaken by events.
Reacting to the judgment, counsel to the plaintiffs, Barrister Ozinko Ozinko, commended the students for pursuing justice despite the challenges. He noted that while the compensation offers some relief, it cannot fully make up for the years lost.
One of the plaintiffs, Ekpedeme Godwin, said the students endured severe academic and emotional hardship during the period but remained determined to seek redress through the courts.
Counsel to the university, Barrister Jonas Abuo, thanked the court for the judgment but declined further comments.
