Nigerian Soldiers Open Fire, Disperse Students Protesting Academic Strike
Some soldiers attacked students protesting against lecturers’ strike in Ondo, Southwest Nigeria, after over three months of academic activities being truncated across Nigerian universities.
A protest by some Nigerian students against the protracted strike by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) was dispersed by soldiers of the Nigerian Army on Tuesday, May 17, in Akure, Ondo State capital, Southwest Nigeria.
HumAngle learnt that the students who occupied the Akure-Ilesha highway Tuesday morning were dispersed by the soldiers who fired gunshots. Similar protests against ASUU strike have been held in different states of the country including Lagos, Osun, Edo, and Oyo.
According to one of the protesters, Kehinde Adeoye, some students were injured during the stampede that followed but no life was lost.
“We were protesting at the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) gate and there was a hold up, making it difficult for vehicles to move,” Adeoye told HumAngle over phone.
“The soldiers were among those held in the traffic. They came down to realise that the reason for the traffic was students’ protest and they started shooting. Nobody died but many people sustained injuries.”
HumAngle contacted Onyema Nwachukwu, the spokesperson of the Nigerian Army, for comment on Tuesday’s incident but he did not respond to our reporter’s call. He was also yet to respond to text messages sent to him as of the time of filing this report.
Meanwhile, Tee-Leo Ikoro, the spokesperson of the Ondo State Police Command, confirmed the incident, saying “it was the military men that dispersed students.”
Soldiers and officers of Nigeria Police often fire live bullets to disperse protesters in Nigeria despite peaceful protest being a fundamental human right in the country.
Protesters were shot and killed during popular #ENDSARS protest against the extra-judicial killings and other irregularities by operatives of the now disbanded police’s Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Oct. 2020.
Members of ASUU have been on strike for over three month over what leadership of the academic union described as the failure of the government to meet its demands. The demands are the replacement of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) with the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) for the payment of its members salaries and other entitlements.
ASUU also emphasised its preference for the adoption of the May 2021 drafted agreement on the ASUU-Federal government renegotiation of the 2009 agreement which was drafted by the defunct Munzali Jibril-led renegotiation committee.
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