Strike: Security Agencies Beam Searchlight On ASUU Leaders Nationwide

By: Adebayo Waheed on October 14, 2013 -5:50am

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Sunday alleged threat to the lives of its leaders nationwide.

The four-month old strike embarked upon by members of the union took a new dimension when ASUU alleged that members had been under the siege of security agencies nationwide.

It was learnt on Sunday that security agencies were beaming searchlights on the sources of finance of members of the union nationwide despite the stoppage of their salaries by the federal government.

Investigations at the University of Ibadan showed that ASUU executives at the institution went underground shortly after last Thursday Congress held at the institution while phones were switched off.

Similarly the secretariat of the union has been deserted with new security arrangement being put in place.

In a statement issued on the latest development, the chairman of the University of Ibadan chapter of the union, Dr Olusegun Ajiboye, said “ASUU strike: Union leaders go underground.”

The ASUU leader alleged that he had received some calls warning him about his role in the ongoing strike.

Ajiboye who called on the Inspector General of Police to save the lives of ASUU leaders nationwide said no amount of threat or clampdown on the union will make them back down from the strike until public education is saved from collapse.

According to him, this recent security threat has forced many ASUU leaders to go underground alleging that many of their phone numbers have been bugged.

“Apart from the issue of finance, ASUU leaders are now being trailed all over the place. A majority of the our union leaders have now gone underground while many have their telephone lines bugged. Some are now living in fear of their lives”

Ajiboye who noted that ASUU members are not security threat to the nation added that as a democratic nation, citizens are guaranteed freedom of association.

Ajiboye urged the federal government to leave its leaders alone and implement the agreements it reached with the union for normalcy to return to university campuses nationwide.

“The position of ASUU is that Nigeria is a democratic country and citizens are guaranteed freedom of association. Members of the union are apprehensive for the lives of their leaders.

“We urge the government to leave our leaders alone. Our leaders are our servants, we are their principals, they report to us on all matters”.

Representatives of the union have repeatedly stated that the strike action would only be called off when the FGN/ASUU 2009 agreement is implemented by the government.

The strike, which started 105 days ago, has seen many meetings between the federal government and representatives of ASUU end in deadlocks with ASUU rejecting an offer of N30bn to begin payment of the earned allowance owed to university lecturers.