The Oyo State Commissioner of Police has directed Area commanders, DPOs and Tactical Commanders in the state to lead the two-day solidarity rally of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, in support of the ongoing strike by Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU.
The CP said the order is necessary to ensure adequate security of lives and property of citizens and residents of the state, as the industrial action commences today.
A copy of a statement released by the Command’s PRO in Ibadan on Tuesday has it that the command had deployed strategic operational, tactical and intelligence measures to ensure a peaceful outing ahead of the Tuesday 26/07/2022 proposed procession by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in solidarity with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The statement further disclosed that the command’s security architecture had been rejigged to comprehensively cater for all and sundry, bearing in mind its statutory mandate of protection of lives and property of the good people of the state in line with standard operational practices hinged on the constitution and any other relevant law and statute.
The CP further assured the citizens and residents of the state and Ibadan metropolis in particular of the command’s readiness to tackle any threat, existing or emerging during the course of the proposed procession, thus ensuring it is not hijacked by unscrupulous and mischievous elements.
CP Williams, however, urged the parents, guardians and leaders wielding different degrees of influence to advise their children, wards and proteges against being used to scuttle the relative tranquility status enjoyed in the state.
He advised: “The good people of the state are enjoined to be unrelenting with providing timely and credible information capable of nipping crime in the bud at all times, please.”
Recall that ASUU began a four-week warning strike on February 14, 2022 to press for its demands on the revitalisation of public universities, earned academic allowances, University Transparency Accountability Solution, UTAS, promotion arrears, renegotiation of 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement, and inconsistencies in Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, IPPIS, payments which were neglected after meetings with Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige.
The strike action which is now over five-months old is yet to exert any solution from the federal government.
Meanwhile, the rally which has commenced on Tuesday according to the NLC, is to compel the Federal Government to resolve all the lingering issues to re-open public universities for academic activities soonest.