Students block major highways in Ondo, Edo, Oyo, Ogun over ASUU strike

STUDENTS from public tertiary institutions in some state on Monday converged and blocked major highways to protest the prolonged strike embarked upon by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). 

In Ondo State, the protesting students barricaded the busy Akure/Ilesha/ Owo road as early as 8.00 am, hindering vehicular moment while travellers and residents were stranded for several hours. 

The protest is coming two days after students of Adekunle Ajasin University (AAUA) blocked the Akungba-Ikare highway to register their grievances over the continued closure of public universities in the country. 

Students from the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), AAUA, and Olusegun Agagu University of Technology, Okitipupa (OAUSTECH) were armed with placards with various inscriptions. Also, students in Ogun state blocked the Sagamu-Benin expressway. 

The joint protest had in attendance students from Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye; Tai Sola- rin University of Education (TASUED), Ijagun and Federal University of Agriculture (FUNAAB), Abeokuta. 

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the students stormed the TASUED axis and blocked the expressway, leaving many motorists stranded and travellers trapped. Speaking at the protest ground, the chairman, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) in the state, Damilola Simeon, appealed to the Federal Government to respond urgently to the yearnings of ASUU. 

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Reacting to the students’ protest, Dr Gbenga Adeleye, ASUU Chairman, FUNAAB, told NAN that the students had a right to quality education, saying they were not happy with the ongoing strike. Students of the University of Ibadan blocked the school’s entrance in Ibadan the state capital, while those from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) barricaded the major road along where the institution is situated in Ogbomoso. 

The students also called on the state governor, Seyi Makinde, to ensure universities in the state back out of ASUU just as it was done in some states for academic activities to resume. LAUTECH, according to them, had been through a series of industrial crises in the past and should not be made to face more hardship. 

In Edo, students of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) blocked the Benin-Auchi-Ramat Park axis of the state capital. 

They later proceeded to the Federal Secretariat in Benin City to present their case to the government. At the secretariat, they were received by the director, Jeremiah Abu, whom they told to take their displeasure with the prolonged strike to the government. 

Abu, in his remark, assured the students of his support and readiness to act accordingly. He, however, asked them to let their conduct remain peaceful. In Ibadan, the protest which had earlier been scheduled to take place at the Iwo road end of the Lagos/Ibadan expressway was shifted to the University of Ibadan main gate. 

Unknown to the police, the protesters gathered at the main entrance of the University of Ibadan at 7:30 am, while the security operatives, including police and Western Security Network Service, codenamed Operation Amotekun, were stationed at Iwo road. 

The protesters who turned out in large numbers blamed the prolonged strike on the insensitivity of the Federal Government to their plights.