Kwara State Polytechnic has suspended a lecturer filmed caning exam candidates who arrived late, after the footage spread across social media on Monday.
The people shown in the video were not the polytechnic’s enrolled students. They were candidates of the Interim Joint Matriculation Board (IJMB), a foundation programme that qualifies graduates for direct entry into Nigerian university degree courses, who had turned up late for ongoing examinations at the Ilorin campus. The distinction matters: the lecturer held no formal teaching relationship with those he caned, leaving the basis of his authority to physically discipline them uncertain.
The footage showed him striking multiple candidates on the palms with a cane. The clip drew immediate condemnation online, with critics arguing that physical punishment has no standing in any tertiary institution regardless of the offence.
Management responded the same day with a suspension order pending inquiry. In a statement, spokesperson Hajia Halimat Garba said the polytechnic stands against violence or physical punishment as discipline. The institution described the action as “wholly inappropriate” while reserving judgment on the outcome of the investigation.
The polytechnic acknowledged the public reaction and said it is reviewing steps to prevent a repeat. The lecturer’s name was not publicly disclosed.
IJMB operates separately from the polytechnic’s core diploma and degree programmes. Candidates who meet the required grade threshold after completing the course can seek direct entry into the second year of an undergraduate programme at affiliated Nigerian universities, bypassing the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
