The Polytechnic, Ibadan, on Wednesday destroyed about 1,000 mobile phones seized from students who were caught using them for examination malpractices.
The mobile phones that were worth over N15 million were seized from students during various examinations conducted in the Oyo State-owned institution in the last one year.
The gadgets were burnt, according to the institution’s management, to discourage examination malpractices through the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
The burning of the items was supervised by a senior lecturer and the immediate past deputy rector of the institution, Bayo Oyeleke.
Also present during the exercise were the Deputy Registrar of the school, Mrs. Ayoade; the Public Relations Officer, Alhaji Soladoye Adewole; Chief Security Officer, Head of Legal Unit, Ibadan, Ige Akinsola, and President of the Student Union Government, Akadiri Bayonle.
Oyeleke, in his address, lamented that it was unfortunate that many students of the institution did not yield to the examination rules that disallowed the use of mobile phones in examination halls.
“Some students still go into the exam hall with their mobile phones, which is against the rules and regulations of the institution,” he said.
Oyeleke insisted that the action of burning the mobile telephones after they were seized was carried out in order to serve as a deterrent to students of the institution who wish to further indulge in the illegal and inappropriate act.
Also, the PRO of the institution, Alhaji Adewole, said: “Up to 1,000 mobile telephones seized in the last one year were burnt. They were seized during examinations in the last one year.
“But, it will not be alright if we return them to the owners because we want to ensure sanctity of our examinations in the school.
“The management decided to burn the mobile telephones; it will be inappropriate if we say that we will return them, they may fall into wrong hands.
“We have been warning students not to take phones into examination halls. Any student that attempts to cheat, using modern technology like phones will have the phone seized.”
