Ondo varsity VC escapes attack by striking workers

Vice-Chancellor of the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, Prof Olufemi Mimiko,  on Monday   escaped harm after striking workers allegedly hauled stones and other dangerous weapons at the building where he and his management team were  holding a meeting with the leaders of the striking unions.

The workers, who were protesting against non-payment of arrears of hazard allowance as captured in the FGN-Unions agreement of 2009, also reportedly laid siege to Mimiko’s office.

Our correspondent learnt that the VC was delayed from leaving  the premises after the meeting  for several hours by the workers.

But  he was said to have received help from some  officials of the Department of State Services,  who appealed to  the striking workers.

Public Relations Officer of the University, Mr. Sola Imoru, told our correspondent on the telephone on Tuesday  that a section of the striking workers, carried out “the minor protest”.

Imoru said, “The protest was immediately called off following the intervention of the executive members of the union. It is not true that the VC was held hostage. There is calm on campus already.”

An aide to the VC, who insisted on speaking only on condition of anonymity after the VC had been spirited out of the complex, decried the development,  which he said was “unfair”.

He said, “It was a horrible experience and to think that some workers could go to this extent to pursue arrears of a package that more than 90 per  cent of universities in this country have not even started implementing at all is quite unfortunate.”

In his address to the striking workers, their leader, Ayo Falade, said his members would mount pressure to collect the arrears, adding that contrary to the claim by the school management, SSANU  had the approval of its national executive to embark on the three-day protest.

The Labour Party had last week, in a statement,  accused the opposition parties of planning to disrupt the peace of the campus to give the impression that the state was not being properly governed.