Court orders ATBU to reinstate, pay damages to student illegally expelled 7 years after

The Court of Appeal, Jos Division, has ordered Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi to reinstate and pay N1.1million damage to a Masters degree student of the school that was illegally expelled over accusation of examination malpractice.

The Plaintiff, Victor Alom Oboh, had filed a suit against the university in 2013 at the Federal High Court in Bauchi challenging his expulsion by the management. After scrutiny, the presiding Judge, Justice Shittu Abubakar had on May 17, 2018 ruled that the expulsion of the plaintiff “is hereby voided and nullified. The defendant is hereby ordered to pay a sum of N1,000,000 as general damages.”

He also ordered that Victor be re-instated to continue his study with immediate effect.

Meanwhile, ATBU had also on June 1, 2018 challenged the ruling of the Federal High Court and approached the Appeal Court, Jos Division. In a copy of judgment passed by a three-man panel, led by Justice Tani Yusuf Hassan and obtained by The Guardian, the Appeal Court upheld the ruling of the High Court.

He said that “the appeal failed and it is dismissed. That the judgment passed by Justice Shittu Abubakar is hereby affirmed.”

He ordered that ATBU pay Victor a sum of N100,000. In total, the university will pay the student N1,100,000 and reinstate him to further his Masters programme.

While reacting to the judgment, the plaintiff, Victor said he fought the battle to clean his name of the accusation. “Just within three minutes after commencement of an examination, an invigilator accused me of malpractice and asked me to fill form in that regard, which I declined. I was expelled.”

Victor said he would return to the school to further his Masters in Engineering “with immediate effect.”