Protesting students blocked access roads to Lagos airports on Monday, September 19, 2022 |
Nigerian students’ agitation over the ongoing strike by the
Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) might paralyse economic activities
at the Apapa port in Lagos on Tuesday, September 20, 2022.
Students, under the aegis of the National Association of Nigerian Students, on Monday made good their threat to ground activities at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos when they defied early morning downpour to block access roads to both the international and domestic terminals of the airport.
The action was in continuation of their protests against the
ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities. The blockage of the
access roads left air passengers stranded, forcing airlines to reschedule most
of their flights.
The students, however, told The PUNCH that they will be
taking their protest to Apapa Ports on Tuesday (today). The association’s South
West Coordinator, Adegboye Olatunji, disclosed this in an interview with one of
our correspondents on Monday.“We will be moving to Apapa seaports on Tuesday if
the Federal Government refuses to do the needful. Students are tired of staying
at home,” Olatunji said.
Lagos airport roads
As of 8am on Monday, NANS members stopped passengers at the
Murtala Mohammed International Airport Toll gate plaza from accessing the
airport to board their flights. The students later moved to the domestic
airport, causing a standstill situation along the airport road and Mobolaji
Bank Anthony Road leading to the local airport.
Activities were affected at both Domestic Terminal I also
known as the General Aviation Terminal and Terminal II as the students
prevented passengers from accessing the airport. The protesting students
wielded placards with inscriptions such as ‘Our education is more important
than your election’ and ‘Education is a right, open our schools,’ among others.
The blockage led to traffic gridlock around Ikeja environs as motorists and
commuters were stranded.
Stranded passengers
As the gridlock persisted, most commuters and air travellers
resorted to trekking with their luggage on their heads. There was also a heavy
presence of security operatives at the location. The immediate past president
of the Nigerian Bar Association, Olumide Akpata was also caught up in the
protest as he had to walk towards the Hajj Camp where he joined his driver.
Speaking to our correspondent, Akpata said he would have
done the same if he was a student. “I was a student in this country, if I had sat
at home for close to a year for whatever reason, I would be on the street,” he
said.
Meanwhile, a mild drama played out when some military men
later approached the protesting students, asking them to round off their
protest. This was met with stiff resistance by the students who insisted on
barricading the road for eight hours. The security operatives said the
protesting students had exceeded the time they were meant to stay on the road.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the Airport,
Kayode Sunday, said “We had an agreement that they were going to leave the road
by 2 pm, and they have exceeded the time. This is an international corridor. We
are managing the situation and I believe they are going to vacate this place
anytime from now.”
A Deputy Senate President, NANS, Elvis Ekundina, said the
government’s action was killing students gradually, saying many had become a
nuisance to their families and society due to the strike.
Speaking on the conduct of security agencies during the
protest, Olatunji said, “Securities agencies complied and I can say it’s the
best I have ever witnessed. NPF and Nigerian Army all did well and were in
solidarity with us.”
Airlines reschedule flights
The protest forced airlines to reschedule their flights.
Arik Air, in a notice of flight disruption cited by one of our correspondents,
asked passengers who were affected to approach its contact centre to reschedule
their flights.
The notice titled ‘Notice of flight disruption due to NAS
action,’ read in part, “Please be informed that you may experience disruptions
to your flights, especially out of Lagos, due to the protest by the National
Association of Nigerian Students. Should you want to reschedule your flight,
kindly call our contact centre.”
Kwara airport
The Kwara State Police Command on Monday said there was no
plan by NANS members shut down the Ilorin International Airport. The command’s
Public Relations Officer, Ajayi Okasanmi, in a statement said the state branch
of NANS has assured the command that there is no such plan.
Okasanmi said the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Paul
Odama, on hearing the news of the planned shutting down of the airport held a
meeting with the president and some executive members of NANS in the state and
they denied planning any protest.
But the President of the Student Union Government,
University of Ilorin, Taofeek Opeyemi, denied that student leaders in the state
met with the police boss.
Court rules Wednesday
Meanwhile, the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Abuja
Division will on Wednesday, deliver its ruling on the application filed by the
Federal Government, seeking to stop ASUU from continuing its indefinite strike
pending the determination of the substantive suit and every other application
on the matter.
The vacation judge, Justice Polycarp Hamman, announced the
date for his ruling after hearing the application on Monday. When the case was
called, counsel for ASUU, Femi Falana (SAN), informed the court that he had
filed a preliminary objection on Friday, which was served on the applicants on
Monday.
The Federal Government through its counsel, James Igwe
(SAN), objected, saying the procedure was not followed. After all the arguments
on the facts and the law, Justice Hamman agreed with the Federal Government and
took the application for an interlocutory injunction.
Justice Hamman adjourned the matter to Wednesday, September
21, 2022, for ruling on the interlocutory injunction.
Imo varsity
The Imo State University, Owerri, on Monday announced that
it had pulled out of the seven-month-old strike embarked upon by ASUU. The
university asked its students and staff members to resume on Tuesday. The
university’s Public Relations Officer, Ralph Njoku, told one of our
correspondents that the university decided to pull out of the strike in the
interest of the students and staff members.
No resumption
But the Vice President of ASUU and its former branch
chairman at the University of Jos, Dr Chris Piwuna, dismissed the resumption
notice in an interview with The PUNCH. He said, “Is the PRO of the university a
member of our union? Does he have the mandate to speak for our members? Did we
consult with him or his VC before we embarked on the action? “Our members
remain resilient and single-minded about our overall goal to rescue our public
universities from the clutches of the neo-liberal, neo-colonialist.”
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