Some security personnel at the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) in Rivers State have been filmed ‘arresting’ some graduating students of the university.
In the now viral video clip uploaded on Facebook on Sunday, some unidentified students were seen being led into a waiting Toyota Hilux pickup truck in the university premises.
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The clip showed some of the students appearing to be struggling with the personnel apparently to avoid being arrested while others ran away.
PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the university authorities instructed the security personnel to carry out the arrest because the students allegedly violated a ban on the popular “signing off” ceremony often observed by students after their final examinations.
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The incident, this newspaper gathered, happened on Friday, shortly after some of the students completed their final-year examinations.
Meanwhile, the UNIPORT management had banned the sign-off ceremonies in the university.
‘VC boys’
A staff member of the university, who asked not to be named, told PREMIUM TIMES the security personnel, known as the “VC boys,” arrested some of the final year students and impounded a few vehicles during the incident.
The staff member confirmed that the arrest followed allegations that they violated the ban on sign-out celebrations in the university.
“Despite the warnings by the UNIPORT authorities, these final year students continue with their sign-out celebrations. I think some of them were apprehended,” she said.
UNIPORT speaks
When contacted on Sunday, Sam Kpenu, the UNIPORT spokesperson, confirmed the incident to PREMIUM TIMES.
Mr Kpenu, however, said nobody was arrested by the security personnel during the incident.
“We have no reason to arrest anybody, but security operatives impounded some vehicles owned by these students,” he said.
“However, we later settled with them and gave their cars back to them.”
The spokesperson then defended the ban on sign-out celebrations in the university, explaining that the decision was aimed at curbing unruly behaviour and disruptions on campus.
The ban
UNIPORT authorities had in a memo dated 2 October 2025 announced a ban on sign-out celebrations in the university.
The memo, which was signed by the university’s Dean of Student Affairs, Chima Wokocha, banned all forms of sign-out activities in the federal institution with “immediate effect.”
Mr Wokocha, a professor, said the signing of T-shirts, often done by students to celebrate the completion of their examinations, would no longer be allowed in the university or the vicinity of any of the institution’s examination venues.
He added that final year students arriving for examinations with security escorts would have their vehicles impounded.
The dean further warned that any security personnel accompanying students into examination centres would be arrested and handed over to the commissioner of police in Rivers State.
“All gatherings of final year students after their examinations are hereby prohibited,” the dean said in the memo.
“Parents and guardians were also advised to stay away from examination venues throughout the duration of the final year examinations.”
Mr Wokocha further said that photographers who attempt to set up cameras to record sign-out celebrations during or after examinations would be arrested.
“Any student or group of students found violating this directive will face the Students Disciplinary Committee,” the memo added.
Not the first time
The ban on sign-out celebrations in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions is not new, but the prohibition of students from coming for examinations with security escorts is a novelty.
On 19 August this year for instance, the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka in Anambra State also announced a ban on the sign-off ceremonies within the institution’s premises.
READ ALSO: Another polytechnic bans sign-out ceremonies for graduating students
In October 2024, the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT) Enugu State announced a similar ban in its campus.
The ban by the IMT management followed the death of a student which happened when a graduating student, in a celebratory mood, rammed his car into a crowd of students within the institution’s premises.
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