Latest ASUU Strike Nigeria Update Today Wednesday 18 May 2022

ASUU Strike Nigeria Update Today: For the second time in one week, students protesting the continued shutdown of Nigerian universities were on Tuesday reportedly attacked by soldiers in Ondo State.

The students, who had blocked the busy Akure-Ilesa road for the second day, said without being provoked the soldiers visited the protest ground and forcefully dispersed the protesters, even as they shot sporadically.

Some unidentified soldiers had also on Friday forcefully driven through a crowd of protesting students in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

The director of the Nigerian army public relations, Onyema Nwachukwu, a major general, in a terse response to our reporter’s inquiry, denied knowledge of the incident but promised to find out.

He, however, did not get back to our reporter.

Also, on Tuesday, a message sent to his mobile line to inquire about the alleged attack was not responded to as of the time of writing this report.

Tuesday’s incident

According to the chairman of the Ondo State axis of the Joint Campus Committee (JCC) of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Surprise Omotosho, the military men allegedly came to the protest ground and “immediately started shooting indiscriminately.”

He said: “We started our peaceful protest yesterday (Monday) and we held a meeting with stakeholders and security agencies telling them that we could stop the protest but at a point, we agreed to end Tuesday’s protest at noon.

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“Just from nowhere, these military men came and started shooting live bullets at us. We have some bullet shells with us.

“You can ask other security men on the ground- the police, Amotekun and even road safety officials, they will all tell you that we were peaceful enough. That will not deter us, we will continue to either stay on the road or in our classrooms. The government has to choose one.”

Meanwhile, pictures and video clips obtained by PREMIUM TIMES also revealed students scampering for safety amidst sporadic gunshots.

Oyo

Also in Oyo State, the protesting students said they were violently attacked by police officers on Iwo Road in Ibadan.

Students of the University of Ibadan during their ASUU protest today.

The students had in the last two weeks consistently staged protests until Friday when they had altercations with the soldiers.

But rather than being discouraged, a student leader, Emiola Solomon, said they were determined to ensure that the universities are reopened.

“So we continued with the protest on Monday but when we got to Iwo-Road, armed mobile police officers attacked us violently and broke some of the phones belonging to our members,” Mr Solomon said.

Osun

Meanwhile, the students of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, also on Tuesday, converged to continue the protest against the ongoing strike by the Nigerian university workers’ unions.

From the OAU campus, the students proceeded to Oduduwa University Ile-Ife (OUI) and barricaded the Ibadan-Ife road and obstructed both human and vehicular movements.

ASUU Strike: OAU Students barricade Ibadan-Ife road

According to the public relations officer of the OAU students’ union, Taofeek Ogunperi, who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES on the phone, the students want the government and the striking workers to resolve their issues and call off the strike.

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He said: “We want the government and ASUU to find a common ground and call off the strike so that we can resume our academic activities. We solidarise with ASUU because their demands are genuine and they are for the betterment of education and by extension, Nigeria as a country.

“The government should honour their agreement too and they should ensure they do due diligence in ASUU and get back to classes.”

Backstory

The strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which commenced on February 14, has clocked 93 days on Tuesday over unmet demands by the Nigerian government.

Other workers’ unions within the university system have also embarked on strike over similar agitations.

The workers’ agitations revolve around issues of poor welfare packages, revitalisation of the universities, and the alleged imposition of the Integrated Personnel Payroll and Information System (IPPIS) on the workers as a payment platform for their entitlements.

Group Condemns Shooting, Harassment Of Student Protesters By Nigerian Army

Apressure group, the Fund Education Coalition, has condemned the unprovoked harassment of peaceful protesters by personnel of the Nigerian Army.

Reacting in a statement issued by Babatimehin Asiwaju, the Fund Education Coalition on Tuesday condemned the action of the Nigerian Army, warning that it may provoke a mass movement to totally shut down all economic activities in the country.

The group which described the development as ‘disturbing’ said soldiers, by virtue of the law only have business with defending the territorial integrity of the country.

It, however, encouraged students to remain resolute in the struggle for a better Nigeria as it urged the government to ensure there is no repeat of harassment in the state and in other parts of the country.

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The statement reads: “Our attention has been brought to a report circulating online wherein personnel of the Nigerian army could be seen harassing and shooting sporadically in a bid to disperse peaceful protesting students in Ondo state today.

“The protesters who are a coalition of all students in Ondo state can be seen scampering for safety while some in the process sustained injuries.

“For us at Fund Education Coalition, we find this disturbing and particularly appalling that soldiers who by virtue of the law only have business with defending the territorial integrity of the country and are barred from operating in the civil arena, are seen brutalising aggrieved students who were simply demonstrating their civil rights to freedom of assembly.

“We totally condemn this act and warn the state government to immediately swing into action and ensure there is no repeat of this ugly menace.

“We clearly understand the language with which the government, the principal element using the armed men to physically brutalise students – is speaking to Nigerian students.

“It is a message of ‘do your worst’. It is indeed the language of a bully. However, we are not a punching bag that does retain jabs without retaliation, we will surely respond in the language they understand – Mass movement to totally shut down all economic activities in the country.

“To the dogged Nigerian students in Ondo state and all across the country, who have stood their ground against the 94 days shutdown of universities, we rain a flood of solidarity greetings on you and urge that we remain indefatigable in the #EndASUUStrike struggle.

“This is a fight to finish and indeed a duty history has imposed on us that we must not avoid, no matter the consequences. Solidarity.”

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