Author: Wale Sadeeq

Protection
By Ibukun Emiola
Ibadan, June 6, 2024 (NAN) National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has urged the management of Ajayi Crowther University (ACU), Oyo, to do more in protecting its students.

The NANS Senate President, Babatunde Akinteye, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan on Thursday.

NAN reports that a NANS delegation had, on Wednesday, gone to the university on a fact-finding mission on some indents that happened in the institution recently.

NAN also recalled that a female student of the university was allegedly raped by two security personnel within the campus, while another was killed by a group of other students over alleged phone theft.

The 200-level Mechanical Engineering student, Alex Timilehin, was said to have been beaten from 6 p.m. on May 24 to about 6 a.m. on May, 25.

Akinteye, however, said that the association was not satisfied with the measures put in place by the institution’s authorities to prevent such ugly occurrences from happening.

He said though the management had beefed up security in and around the campus, the hostels were still porous.

Akinteye also added that part of the pledges made to NANS by the school authorities was that the the Chief Security Officer (CSO) would be replaced.

“If not for the incidents that happened, we wouldn’t know the lapses on the campus.

“We checked through the hostels and saw that they are still porous. So we told them to improve the hostel facilities.

“We also told them to ensure that security guards are always on ground and that the porters should be inside the hostels during the working hours.

“So, if they are doing shifts, the porter on duty should not leave until the person taking over from him is around,” he said.

The NANS senate president also emphasised the need for re-orientating the students rather than waiting for something bad to happen before taking precautionary measures.

He called on the school authorities to investigate the circumstances surrounding the escape of one of the suspects in the killing of the student from the campus.

NAN reports that a total of 25 students of the university were arraigned before an Iyaganku Chief Magistrates’ Court in Ibadan on Wednesday in connection with the killing of their colleague.

NAN also reports that they had since been remanded in a correctional centre, pending the commencement of their trial on July 8.

Akinteye, however, said that the association would push for an amendment to the charges preferred against them.

This, he said, was because none of the students was directly charged with murder of their colleague.

“In the videos circulating, it is clear that some people were beating the victim directly, which eventually led to his death.

“So, the charges shouldn’t be the same for everyone involved in the incident,” he said.

When contacted, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the university, Mr Femi Atoyebi, confirmed that a NANS delegation was on the campus on a fact-finding mission on Wednesday.

He, however, said that the association was satisfied with the steps taken by the institution’s management after they had been briefed by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Timothy Adebayo.

Atoyebi said: “NANS leadership from Abuja and zonal leaders in the South-West came to meet the management of the institution to hear the university’s side of the story.

The vice-chancellor, Prof. Timothy Adebayo, was able to tell them exactly what happened and was able to answer all their questions.

“He specifically told them that the university, as a faith-based school, would never cover up anything and that everything that happened is in the purview of the public. So there’s nothing to hide.”

Atoyebi said that NANS demanded for the list of those arraigned and asked that a thorough autopsy be done on body of the victim so as to can know what exactly happened.

Part of the demands of the NANS delegation, he said, was that the family of the late student be carried along in everything being done by the school authorities.

“They also demanded that the Inspector-General of Police sets up an independent body to investigate the matter.

“These are the issues that the students’ body made and they are things we have already done,” Atoyebi said.

He said while engaging the VC, the association was told that the family was being carried along and that the school had engaged University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, for an autopsy on the body of the student.

On the demand for investigation, Atoyebi said the vice-chancellor told the students’ body that the police had already taken it up, consequent upon which the suspects were arraigned in court on Wednesday.

He also quoted Adebayo as saying that the institution could not release the names of the perpetrators, as it was also part of the suit.

He said the list of the names was with the police and that the NANS officials should contact them for it.

Atoyebi said that after the meeting, the NANS leadership addressed the students at the institution’s main gate without any violence and was also conducted round the hostels.

“They saw transparency in all the management has done,” he said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
IBK/WAS
Edited by ‘Wale Sadeeq

Airport
By Suleiman Shehu
Ibadan, June 3, 2024 (NAN) Some passengers trying to board flights from Ibadan airport, Alakia to Abuja were, on Monday, stranded due to the nationwide strike embarked upon by Nigerian workers.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the main entrance of the airport was under lock and key, while no vehicular movement was allowed into the airport premises.

NAN also reports that the chopper carrying the Inspector-General of Police (I-G), Kayode Egbetokun, was billed to land at the airport on Monday morning, with the Commissioner of Police in Oyo State, Adebola Hamzat, scheduled to welcome him.

However, Hamzat’s convoy, which was almost denied access to the airport, was later allowed in to pick the I-G.

Speaking with NAN, one of the stranded passengers at the airport, Mrs Bolanle Ehinfun, said the strike should have been prevented by the Federal Government because the organised labour had given them enough time.

Ehinfun, a retired banker, said that she had been at the airport since 8 a.m., saying that she spent about N10,000 on her transportation to the place.

“Now, they are saying the flight is cancelled due to the strike and this will cost me another N10,000 to go back home.

“I have also spent N5,000 on feeding at the airport before they announced the cancellation of the flight.

“Government is not considering the masses,” she said.

Ehinfun, who noted that the strike had disrupted many businesses, said government should have considered the implication of the industrial action and prevent it.

Also speaking, one of the passengers who preferred anonymity, said she was going to Abuja for a training-the-trainer programme on Citizens’ Mobility and Mortality in Nigeria.

The passenger said that the programme could not start because he was the master trainer and could not go.

He said though the organised labour had a point on their demands for the new minimum wage, they should not have shut down the airport and other essential services.

“The N60,0000 minimum wage proposed by the federal government is too small; even N100,000 is small,” he said.

According to him, President Bola Tinubu is trying but the state governors are not helping matters by not using the resources coming to their states to better the lives of the masses.
SYS/MAM/WAS
Edited by Modupe Adeloye and ‘Wale Sadeeq

Strike
By Oluwaseyi Oduneye-Ogunwomoju
Ibadan, June 3, 2024 (NAN) Some traders in Ibadan metropolis have expressed mixed feelings over the ongoing nationwide strike declared by Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC).

The traders, in their separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan on Monday, that the strike would, no doubt, affect their sales.

Mrs Basirat Lawal, a pepper seller at Challenge, expressed sadness over the strike, saying that it would have a telling effect on her sales.

Lawal said that she did not operate a bank account, as this would limit the number of customers she could attend to.

“I don’t have a bank account. Even before this strike, I used to lose some customers who don’t have cash to pay, but with this strike, I know my sales will drop because banks have also joined the strike.

“I’m not happy, I must say, but the people who embarked on the strike are only demanding for their rights,” she said.

Abdulmalik Musa, a fruit seller at Molete, expressed the hope that the strike would yield results.

According to him, the NLC must ensure that the strike is effective in order for them to achieve their desired goal.

“Now that they have started the strike, they should continue and see it to its logical conclusion,” he said.

Musa expressed full support for the workers demanding for a new minimum wage, saying that after all, the politicians, who he alleged of doing nothing, were getting so much.

Miss Ajoke Busari, a fish seller, urged the federal government to constitute a committee that would be saddled with the responsibility of maintaining price control in the country.

Busari noted that the fish business was no longer lucrative due to high prices, stressing that some of her colleagues had been forced to quit the business.

“Before now, two or three of us normally shared a carton of fish so that we all could have varieties of fishes to sell.

“Now, five or six of us share a cartoon, and we barely make gains at the end of the day.

“To me, the demands of NLC and TUC should include increasing workers’ salary and reducing the cost of things so that the money can make an impact on everyone, not just the workers,” she said.

Mrs Omobonike Ayinde, a foodstuffs seller at Molete market, said when workers were paid better, it would have ripple effects on the entire Nigerians.

“Their monthly or weekly purchase will increase and so are our sales, while credit purchase will stop or reduce drastically.

“But nowadays, when we sell too much on credit, restocking becomes a big problem for us, but we can’t do without selling on credit to some of our customers.

“When workers receive good payment, it’s not just them that will enjoy; it will cut across,” she said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
SEY/MAM/WAS
Edited by Modupe Adeloye and ‘Wale Sadeeq

Strike
By Olatunde Ajayi and Ibukun Emiola
Ibadan, June 3, 2024 (NAN) Activities were on Monday paralysed at the federal and state secretariats in Ibadan, in compliance with the directives of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) on commencement of an indefinite nationwide strike.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the labour unions called for a nationwide strike over the breakdown in the minimum wage negotiations by a tripartite committee constituted by the Federal Government in January.

The leadership of the labour unions had, on May 1, given the federal government up till May 31 to complete negotiations on the new minimum wage, failure of which they might not be able to guarantee industrial peace in the country.

NAN also reports that the main gate of the federal secretariat in Ibadan was under lock and key, while security patrol from the Nigeria Police Force were seen stationed close to the entrance of the secretariat to maintain peace and order.

A private security guard, who preferred anonymity, said that no worker was permitted to enter the secretariat premises, as the few ones who came early in the morning were asked to return home by union leaders.

NAN reports that the strike had affected normal business activities in and around the secretariat, as some food vendors were seen lamenting that they had already prepared food to sell, thinking that the strike might not be effective.

At the state secretariat, the entrance was manned by men of the Nigeria Police Force and Amotekun, with their vehicles positioned strategically.

The main gate was, however, open for anyone to access the secretariat, while the access road from the flyover was under lock and key.

NAN reports that the strike was partially observed, as some workers were seen doing skeletal duties in their offices.

Some of the workers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they were on ground to do one or two things, though they acknowledged that the strike was still on.
NAN observed that some Amotekun personnel were strategically stationed in front of the state House of Assembly, with their vehicles on ground. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
TUN/IBK/KOLE/WAS
Edited by Remi Koleoso and ‘Wale Sadeeq