University of Bahr el Ghazal campus - COURTESY

Female students at the University of Bahr Al Gazal said Friday they are stranded in Wau town after being told to leave the University hostels, following an ongoing strike.

Students at the university allegedly terrorized lectures on Tuesday, August 15, to protest tuition fee increment.

Following the strike, female students who declined to be identified stated that security personnel came to the hostel and asked them to leave within 24 hours.

The students said they are wondering why the order from the University Administration asks them to leave their hostels while their male colleagues remain in their hostels.

“We were sitting, then at around 7:30, two soldiers and three in none uniform came and told us they are sent from the university administration, and they want students to leave the hostel in 24 hours,” said one of the students.

According to them, female students from other parts of the country including Upper Nile and Equatoria region are stranded without a place for accommodation.

“Some of us are coming from Upper Nile and others from Juba. But one person called the dean of students affairs and he said they do not want anyone in the University premises.”

“They said if anyone has a friend or relative, let them go and stay with them, we are really sorry with what is happening. Why is the government allowing us to be treated like we are not South Sudanese? Am really sorry to be treated like that in my country.”

“If there is something happening to students, they are supposed to stand with us, but now they are against us and we do not know the reason, secondly the problem is just with the females because the male students are still in their hostels, we are not here to make violence we just want our rights,” said another.

“Currently we are in a bad situation we are in hostels and do not have people here in Wau some of us are coming from the States they do not have relatives here,” another student lamented.

“Some of us are still for supplementary because we did not complete the exams, we are fighting for our rights. We did not go to offices to cause violence. How come they do not want to understand the situation of the economic crisis we are going through,” the student said in tears.

Recently, the university increased fees, sparking concerns among students who say that the new fee was too high.

According to the new tuition fee structure, a student of economics who used to pay 40,000 pounds, will now pay 150,000 pounds, while a student of medicine who was paying 50,000 pounds is required to pay 175,000 pounds.