Hostels Crisis: UNILAG to sanction racketeers, considers squatting

The University of Lagos (UNILAG) has threatened severe sanctions against students caught involved in hostels racketeering, a trend that has subjected many needy students to accommodation hardship in the institution, with the authority also considering squatting as an alternative.

The Dean, Students Affairs, Professor Musa Obalola, gave this hint in an interview with The Eagle Online on Tuesday.

Obalola, who spoke on the ravaging hostels crisis in the school, said: “We’re also deeply worried and I can assure you that we’ve been trying our best to curb it (hostel racketeering) as much as possible.

“We have several stipulated sanctions for students that are caught selling either bed spaces or squatting spaces.

“The minimum you can get is two or one semester suspension.”

The punishment, the DSA pointed out, will be pronounced after a suspected racketer is caught, tried, and ruled guilty by the school’s Students Disciplinary Board.

Asked what measures have been put in place to resolve the challenge of inadequate hostels and racketeering, Professor Obalola, who stressed that racketeering is rampant because the occupants of the official hostels don’t pay “economic rent”, replied that once allocation is made to successful applicants, the school issues hostels ID card to them, while staff go round to check randomly.

He threatened that this time, the school authority would come down heavily on those who are caught in the illegal act.

The DSA said: “Some of the students don’t look at the circumstances surrounding accommodation.

“Why deny your fellow students from bidding, keep the accommodation you got already and still go ahead to bid and sell?”

In addition, the University said it desires to publish details of students who are involved in hostels racketeering, while with the government’s approval will enter into PPA arrangement for new hostels with over 7,000 bed spaces to be commissioned and delivered within 24 months.

The Eagle Online also learnt that one of the official female hostels (Honours) with capacity for 511 bed spaces is currently not being allocated to students due to renovation.

Having survived similar experience in the last academic session, due to renovation, many UNILAG students have again been exposed to hostel challenges in the current session due to the late registration of freshers, unexplained administrative lacuna in some departments, and misconduct of racketeers and their agents.

Investigations carried out by The Eagle Online indicated that racketeers sell a bed space for between N240,000 and N300,000, while a squatting space goes for as high as N180,000.

At the beginning of the current session, most freshers (100 Level and Direct entry), due to their late registration, were forced to come for lectures from their homes, some spending over N5,000 on transportation on a daily basis.

The Eagle Online findings identified a more shocking instance in the Quantity and Surveying Department (200 Level), where the entire class allegedly could not participate in the first hostels balloting for students from 200 to 500 levels.

Our investigations revealed that the students in the 200 Level of Q&S could not ballot for hostels owing to alleged non-registration of their courses.

While the challenge lasts, many of the affected students out of frustration and stress of affordability, stay back in the campus, put up in the lecture theatres and class corridors till weekend before they return to their respective homes.

The Eagle Online reliably gathered that some students who cannot afford the high transport fare have since stopped coming to school, challenging the chances of pursuing their academic programmes.

Another balloting exercise

Amidst the crisis, the UNILAG management has just announced another balloting opportunity for students who were unable to secure accommodation in the previous exercise.

According to an official news bulletin obtained by The Eagle Online on Monday, January 5, 2026, the DSA office disclosed that the balloting – application for the temporary hostel accommodation for the 2025/2026 academic session – will open at 2pm today, Tuesday, January 6, 2026.

The bulletin reads in part: “Eligibility Criteria: 200 to 500 level students who have completed course registration for the 1st Semester of the 2025/2026 academic session, and are within the regular duration for their respective programmes are eligible to apply for bed spaces.

“Application Process: Eligible 200 to 500 Level students must apply online for the temporary hostel accommodation during the designated application window, beginning at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 6, 2026.

“Allocation Criteria: After the application window closes, temporary bed spaces will be allocated randomly among all eligible applicants.”

It added that application will end as soon as the limited temporary bed spaces are filled.

It said notification to shortlisted applicants will be sent on January 7, 2026.

The payment deadline, the bulletin indicated, is January 9, 2026.

Movement into the Hall of Residence will be on January 13, 2026.

Earlier, the DSA had told The Eagle Online that balloting for hostels for freshers would start on January 2, 2026 and end on January 6, 2025, while the real “randomised” balloting will be conducted on January 7, 2025.

Squatting measure

Again, having been confronted with the extreme dimension of the hostel’s scarcity and effects on its students, the institution’s authority has also introduced another window described as Temporary Hostel Accommodation (Squatting).

While noting that the measure is illegal, the school, in another news bulletin released on Monday and shared with The Eagle Online, said the temporary arrangement is to address the challenges many students face in commuting themselves daily from their homes to campus for lectures.

The bulletin emphasised that the allocation of temporary accommodation is the sole responsibility of the Student Affairs Division, specifying that bonafide bed space holders are not to personally assign this privilege to another student.

It directed students who qualify for consideration to submit a duly signed and stamped biodata form of full payment of all school dues, and a copy of their course registration form for the current session.

The bulletin reminded applicants that the temporary accommodation is not a right, but a privilege granted under exceptional circumstances.

It added that a facility management fee will be applied for the accommodation and the final amount will be determined and communicated by the Office of the DSA.

It reads in part: “All students granted this accommodation must fully abide by the rules and regulations of the Hall of Residence.

“It is not permitted for any bonafide bed space holder or an accredited occupant to independently host or “squat” another student. Such arrangements are not recognized by the university.

“The process for allocating the temporary accommodation would strictly be online.”

Students and Hostels statistics

The Eagle Online reports that UNILAG has over 60,000 students.

This includes: about 35,000 undergraduates having hostel facilities with 10,599 bed spaces, including undergraduate, post-graduate, and private hostels.

Hostels managed by the school’s authority have 8,211 bed spaces (for undergraduates).

Out of this, 5,123 bed spaces were allocated for females, while 3,088 bed spaces were earmarked for male.

This includes the hostels considered bad that cannot be allocated.