The United Kingdom has ordered Nigerian students who could not pay their tuition fees on time at Teeside University to return to their country.
The school had blocked the students from continuing their studies and reported them to the Home Office after a slump in the naira made it difficult for them to pay tuition fees.
A Nigerian student, Adenike Ibrahim, was reportedly close to handing in her dissertation at the end of two years of study when she missed one payment and was then kicked out and reported to the Home Office.
She subsequently paid the outstanding fees, but said she had not been re-enrolled and was told she must leave the country, along with her young son.
Another student said she had not been able to eat since she got a message from the Home Office asking her to leave the UK before a certain date.
The BBC added that some affected students have managed to pay off outstanding fees, but the university is now unable to intervene in the Home Office process.
A university spokesman told BBC that failure to pay was a breach of visa sponsorship requirements and that it had “no choice” but to alert the Home Office.
