NUST STUDENTS LOCKED IN THE LIBRARY BASEMENT

About eight NATIONAL University of Science and Technology (Nust) students on Wednesday were locked up in the library basement as they refused to leave the library before 9pm.

The library staff is reported to have told students to leave the library at 4pm, but they insisted that the library closed at 9pm and they would not leave.

"There were about 8 students and the majority were part four's from the Journalism and Media Studies department.They said they were shocked after packing their things and prepared to leave the basement at 4:55 p.m., only to find the doors locked," said a student who witnessed the event but denied to be named

The students and the staff are reported to have exchanged harsh words, before the learners left the main library to continue studying in the building’s basement.

But the staff members would have none of it and locked the premises, and left.

After a while, the students, realising they had been locked in, called police officers, telling them they had been held hostage by the library staff.

Other students said they were threatened and told that they would be suspended for their actions of refusing to leave the library and they would be expelled from the institution.

Contacted for comment, Zimbabwe National Students’ Union provincial chairperson Alistar Pfunye said students were right to demand the use of the library, as they had paid for the facility.

“Students are correct and they must be treated fairly by library staff members because the same workers would have been on the streets selling airtime and tomatoes had the students not been there,” he said.

Over the last week, staff from various tertiary institutions have gone on strike, demanding their salaries and last year’s bonuses.