The Senate of Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUE), Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has expelled a final-year student, Onyewuenyi Chiamaka Nora, over a viral social media video in which she allegedly claimed that a lecturer was handling her final-year research project for N150,000.

The university said the decision followed its Senate meeting held on Wednesday at the Postgraduate Hall, where members considered the content of the video and the student’s claims.

In a statement issued yesterday, the institution’s Public Relations Officer, Dr Ngozi Okiridu, said the Senate found aspects of the student’s account unacceptable, particularly her description of her project topic as “Citizenship” and her allegation that her supervisor was writing the project for her.

The university maintained that there was no project topic titled “Citizenship” in the Department of English Language and Literary Studies.

The video, which circulated widely on social media last week, showed the student discussing her research project.

She reportedly struggled to provide further details about the topic and said her supervisor was handling the work alongside those of other students.

Announcing the disciplinary action, the university said: “Senate has expelled Miss Onyewuenyi Chiamaka Nora with Matriculation Number U/2022/19900, a final-year student of the Department of English and Literary Studies, over damaging content creation.”

The statement added that the expulsion was intended to deter other students from engaging in similar conduct.

The university’s announcement also highlighted its academic standing, with Vice-Chancellor, Prof Okechukwu Onuchuku, reporting that IAUE ranked seventh among institutions in the 2026 ranking based on staff submissions of Google Scholar profiles.

Okiridu commended academic staff whose research articles and other scholarly publications had attracted citations on Google Scholar, attributing the institution’s progress to their contributions.