LASU Members Of Staff Turn Against Vice-Chancellor

LASU Members Of Staff Turn Against Vice-Chancellor

Protesting workers of the Lagos State University (LASU) yesterday threw satchet water at the Vice Chancellor, Prof. John Obafunwa and his principal officers, as they chased him out of the school premises.

According to Sun Online, the protest paralyed academic and administrative activities on campus.

The protest was reported to have started at about 7.45am, as the angry workers locked the main gate on Badagry Expressway and Iba gate despite the presence of policemen from Ojo and Iba Police Stations as well as the campus marshal.

As early as 7.30am, leaders of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and Non-Academic Staff (NASU) had already mobilized their members for the protest.

The angry workers, who used their vehicles to block the two gates sang anti-Obafunwa songs while laying siege to the coconut breaking festival, which was part of the convocation ceremony.

At about 9.55am, armed policemen escorted Prof. Obafunwa and other principal officers into the main campus, but the protesting workers followed him and his entourage chanting anti-Obafunwa songs.

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At Block 1, housing the vice chancellor and other principal officers’ offices, the protesting workers blocked the entrance and prevented him and others from gaining entrance thus forcing him to address the angry staff that rebuffed him.

The protest took another dimension when the protesting staff started to pelt the vice chancellor and other principal officers with sachets of water, forcing the policemen and campus marshal to hurriedly escort him and others out of the area.

When the protest became uncontrollable, the policemen at about 11.10am were forced again to escort Obafunwa and other principal officers out of the campus through a second gate called the Iba gate.

As Obafunwa and other principal officers made to escape, they were pelted with more sachets of water before the policemen finally escorted him into his official car.

Other principal officers chased out of the campus included two of his deputies, Prof. Sena Barkr and Prof. Fedelis Njokuoma, the bursar and librarian.

ASUU-LASU Chairman, Dr. Adekunle Idris, SSANU-LASU chairman, Saheed Oseni and NASU-LASU, Albert Agosu, was reported by the Sun Online to have said that the protest was against bad leadership, victimization of staff, non-payment of outstanding salary arrears, violation of due process, destruction of staff image in the newspapers, withdrawal of PhD certificates, denial of letters for elected governing council and Senate members

A previous protest in the school by students of the school led to school fees of students being refunded in fulfillment of the promise made by Governor Babatunde Fashola to refund part of students’ fees totaling N209m.

Source: Legit.ng

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