The management of Ekiti State University (EKSU), Ado Ekiti, has proscribed all labour unions and shut down the institution indefinitely following a protest over poor staff welfare.
The university authorities have also instructed students to vacate the campus with immediate effect.
According to NAN, Bode Olofinmuagun, the varsity’s head, directorate of information and corporate affairs, broke the news in a statement on Saturday.
Olofinmuagun said the governing council of the university decided to close down the institution in order to safeguard lives and property.
“The Governing Council of Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti announces the immediate closure of the University. All academic activities are hereby suspended,” the statement read.
“This is as a result of the continuous disruption of lawful activities on campus which have endangered lives and property in the past one week.
“Consequently, to guarantee peace and orderliness on campus, all the four unions, namely ASUU, SSANU, NAAT, and NASU are hereby proscribed with immediate effect. All students are advised to vacate the campus forthwith.”
The face-off between the university authorities and workers reportedly erupted last Monday after workers of the institution across the various unions hired a live band and turned the main entrance of the institution into a party ground.
According to the workers, the move was part of a strategy to press home their demands over alleged unpaid salaries and allowances, among other things.
Their action was said to have paralysed both academic and non-academic activities on the campus as both workers and students were denied access to the campus.
Speaking on the development, Azeez Aguda, the institution’s Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU) secretary, said the union’s action would continue until the government prevailed on the university authorities to accede to their demands.
He listed the demands to include payment of July, August, and September salaries (2018), remittance of cooperative and pension dues, and reinstatement of sacked workers, among several others.
The unions also accused the university authorities of reneging on the commitments of a memorandum of agreement (MoA) they signed with workers’ representatives, an event that was witnessed by members of the state’s house of assembly in the year 2020.
In its reaction, the university’s management said most of the demands of the workers were made during the lifetime of the previous administration.
It, however, said some of the demands had been addressed while others were in the process of being tackled.
The management said it was not true that the university had reneged on the MoA they signed with the various unions in 2020.
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