ASUU strike: We have the right to protest, OAU students tell soldiers

The students of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, on Wednesday, resisted a convoy of the Nigerian Army who had attempted to disperse them and open the barricade created by the students.

It was gathered that the soldiers who had earlier dismantled the barricade created by the students on the road at Moro area, Osun State, were later confronted by the mass of students who had retreated but regrouped in their numbers.

Chanting solidarity songs, they said “we no go gree, we no go gree”, and “Go back, No way” to the soldiers who had seemed helpless at that point in time.

OAU students had been protesting the ongoing strike action of the Academic Staff Union of Universities for five consecutive days.

“We booed them away from the barricade today,” one of the leaders of the protest and a member of the Students’ Union Parliament, Abraham Omowumi, also known as Ewatee, said.

The Public Relations Officer of the Union, Ogunperi Taofeek, also said, “The students of OAU again took to the streets today to protest the lingering ASUU strike.

“About 2:30 pm, some of the barricades mounted were broken by men of the Nigerian Army. However, we resisted them at the last barricade, holding them there until the fixed time for our protest lapsed.”

Ogunperi Taofeek noted that the protest would continue on Monday.

“The protest will continue on Monday, May 23, 2022,” he told The PUNCH.

The PUNCH reported that students protesting the ASUU strike across the South-West in the country had been having encounters with soldiers. The military had tried to harass students in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, by attempting to run over them with their vehicle.

On Tuesday, the military dispersed protesting students in Akure, Ondo State by allegedly firing gunshots.