Students
of tertiary institutions owned by Osun State Government on Monday
staged a massive protest in Osogbo against the prolonged strike by their
lecturers.
The
lecturers in four state-owened institutions embarked on an indefinite
strike over three months ago as a result of unpaid salaries, inadequate
staff and non remittance of their pension deduction made by the state
government to the retirement savings accounts.
The
students, mostly from Osun State Polytechnic, Iree; Osun State College
of Technology, Esa Oke; Colleges of Education in Ila and Ilesa, started
the protest from Olaiya and trekked to Abere, the State Secretariat
singing anti-government songs.
The students had laid siege to the main gate of the state secretariat after they arrived there at around 11am.
At around 12:50pm,
the Deputy Governor, Mrs. Titi Laoye-Tomori, was driven to the
secretariat but the students prevented her convoy from gaining entry.
Some of
the students laid on the ground in front of her car and some laid at the
back making it difficult for the deputy to go inside or to turn back.
All efforts made by Laoye-Tomori to pacify the irate students failed as they held her hostage in their midst.
Some of
the students had earlier manhandled the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of
Education, Mr. Lawrence Oyeniran, by poking his stomach and making jest
of him.
The
Chairman, National Association of Nigerian Students, Osun State, Mr.
Lukman Adekitan, said the students were tired of staying at home due to
the strike in the four institutions.
He
called on Governor Rauf Aregbesola to addressed the issues raised by the
lecturers, saying students of the affected schools have wasted a lot of
time due to incessant strikes.
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