The Academic Staff Union of Universities has blamed the Vice-Chancellor of the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, over an attack on its members by the AAUA security operatives on Monday.
The union claimed that two members of the union sustained injuries during the attack.
Those who reportedly sustained injuries were ASUU-AAUA chapter Chairman, Dr. Busuyi Mekusi, and a former Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, who teaches in the university, Mr. Oluwasegun-Ota Bolarinwa.
ASUU alleged that the security operatives acted on the instruction of the AAUA Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Femi Mimiko, in carrying out the attack on its members.
The ASUU Chairman, University of Ibadan, Dr. Olusegun Ajiboye, who was in the delegation, said, “Apart from initially denying ASUU vehicles entry into the campus, the University of Ibadan and Benue State University vehicles that managed to enter had their tyres deflated.
‘The ragamuffin security outfit called Sheriff brought out cutlasses and other dangerous weapons to attack the union leaders. In the process, the branch chairman and Mr. Bolarinwa were injured. The ASUU Vice-President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, led the team.”
On the purpose of the visit, Ajiboye said the National Executive Council of the union set up the team to visit the branch on a fact-finding mission and to do an on-the-spot appraisal of the last strike.
“AAUA Akungba is now a den of lions. The VC now hires and fires at will. There are no more free meetings on campus. We met at the ASUU Cooperative building. It is a sorry case,” he said.
The union, however, called on the Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko, to restrain the vice-chancellor from causing further damage to the image of the institution.
Meanwhile, the AAUA management has described the allegation as misleading, saying it was not responsible for the friction the ASUU members had with security operatives.
The institution’s image-maker, Mr. Sola Imoru, said the ASUU members refused to submit themselves to security checks, which resulted in a brawl between them and the security men on guard.
He said, “What actually happened was that the ASUU members arrived in a bus in the early hours of the morning and refused to submit themselves to the security procedure at the gate.
“They, instead, drove past the blockade and this prompted the security men to chase them. A kind of brawl ensued and some of the security men were seriously injured. So, the institution has nothing to do with it.
“If the management was involved, how come the meeting went on in the school? The meeting started in the morning and they left about 3pm.
“Meanwhile, the ASUU members went on to instigate the students against the management, but luckily, calm has returned and everything is now under control.”
