Eyewitnesses said that
the lecturers had gathered at the mini-campus of the university at Gwagwalada
for the protest when suddenly policemen and plain clothes security personnel
took over the entire arena and prevented them from the embarking on the
protest.
Dr. Clement Chup,
zonal Chairman of ASUU, told the journalists that ASUU forwarded a written
request to the Commissioner of Police at Gwagwalada to notify him of
their intentions, but all the protesters were shocked when the policemen
showed up and prevented them from entering the campus.
Read the press
statement of ASUU rep below:
“We, members of the
Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU of University of Abuja had actually
planned to carry out a peaceful demonstration today (October 30, 2013,
Wednesday). What we planned was to have a community marching just to march
through some major streets in Abuja, to sensitize the public on the essence of
our strike. You will agree with me that the strike that has been on for the
past four months now is a cause for worry for everybody. We wanted to tell
members of the public we are on strike because the Federal Government have
refused to implement the agreement they had with our members since 2009.
“But unfortunately
when we got to the campus this morning, we were prevented from entering the
campus by policemen. When they prevented us from entering the campus we sat
down helplessly outside the gate, just chatting and trying to put heads
together, the policemen came around and tear gassed us several times to
disperse us.
“We were wondering
why security agents who supposed to provide security for law abiding citizens
would turn around and begin to oppress the same people they are supposed to
provide security for. It was really a cause for worry, even as they threw over
13 canisters of tear gas at us. Some of us were soaked in the tear gas and one
of us who has asthma condition was rushed to the hospital.
“We insisted that it
is our right, so at the end of the day, we were able to carry out our protest
at a point in front of the university gate. When they tried to stop us and they
didn’t succeed, they now allowed us to carry out our protest at the gate where
we displayed our banners, sang our solidarity song and left”.
Commenting on the
rally, the Divisional Police Officer, Gwagwalada, Mr. Tony Okon, said the
presence of policemen at the campus, was to protect innocent citizens against
hoodlums.
“Shooting of teargas was to prevent hoodlums from
joining the protest so that they do not take advantage of the situation and
cause any damage” the DPO said.
Vanguard
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