Metro

JUST IN: ASUU Stages Peaceful Protest In Bauchi, Demands Exception From IPPIS

Published

1 year ago

June 28, 2024

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi state chapter has staged a peaceful protest to press home its demands and urged the Federal Government to fulfill its promise to remove its members from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

Comrade Ibrahim Inuwa, the Chairman of the union made the call on Thursday, at the end of the peaceful protest.

He also urged the federal government to implement the re-negotiations of 2009 agreements reached with the national ASUU to prevent the resumption of the suspended industrial action.

The ASUU members who walked from their Secretariat in the Yelwa campus of the University to the main gate, called on President Bola Tinubu to ensure the signing and implementation of the Prof. Nimi Briggs Committee’s agreement on the renegotiation of salaries of academic staff of Federal Universities.

The members, through their Chairperson, expressed their grievances by carrying placards with different inscriptions, calling the attention of relevant authorities to their plights such as ‘Remove ASUU from IPPIS, Release our withheld salaries, Implement ASUU FG agreements, We are not Casual Workers’ among many others.

Inuwa, who stated that the non implementation of the agreement has the implications of denying Academics a wage that is consistent with the current economic reality, also lamented that for 15 years now, ASUU members have remained on the same salary system while all efforts for renegotiation have failed thereby making them to remain stagnant on the same spot.

“Following the federal government and ASUU in the 2009 agreement, it was provided that the agreement would be reviewed every 3 years. However, the Union has been without a renegotiated agreement for the past 15 years.

“Consequently, after so much effort and pressure on the government, a renegotiation committee was set-up under the Chairmanship of Wale Babalakin in 2017. This committee failed to ensure the conclusion of its assignment within the agreed time frame.

“Two other committees headed by Prof. Munzali Jibrin and Late Emeritus Prof. Nimi Briggs negotiated and produced draft agreements but the process was truncated at the point of finalizing the reviewed agreement and from 2021 till date, the document has remained in a draft form.

ASUU has over the years remained concerned over the need for successive governments to give the deserved attention to the development and provision of quality education to the Nigerian citizens.

“This position of the Union is consistent with section 18(1) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended. This section states that the government shall direct its policy towards ensuring that there are equal and adequate educational opportunities to the citizens at all levels.

“The provision of access to quality education not only basic education, but including tertiary education is a matter of national interest and patriotism.

“This is because no nation is able to develop to its full potential where its citizens are poorly educated and their access to education is limited and obstructed by the lackadaisical attitude of the political class,” he said.

He called on the federal government to, as a matter of urgency, attend to their demands so as not to resolve embarking on an industrial action which the union had been avoiding over the years.

Metro

NAF Airstrikes Kill Scores Of Terrorists, Destroy Hideout In Borno

Published

19 minutes ago

September 18, 2025

Editor

The Nigerian Air Force said air interdictions by the Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai have killed scores of terrorists and destroyed their enclave in Borno.

This was contained in a statement released by the Director, Public Relations and Information, NAF, Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame, on Thursday in Abuja.

Ejodame said the strikes were conducted on Wednesday at about 10:50 a.m. in Bula Madibale, Gezuwa general area of the state.

He said intelligence and surveillance had confirmed unusual movements at the location, where about 45 terrorists were observed converging, some arriving on motorcycles and bicycles from different directions.

According to him, reconnaissance also revealed two terrorist flags hoisted at the site, underscoring its use as a stronghold and rallying point for insurgents.

“Acting on this credible intelligence, the Air Component launched precision strikes, eliminating several terrorists, while the flagged structure and other hostile assets were destroyed,” he said.

Ejodame also said that the strikes denied the terrorists freedom to regroup, reinforce or mount further attacks on communities in the North East.

He assured that the Armed Forces remained committed to restoring peace and stability across the region.

NAN

Metro

Police Arrest Islamic Cleric With Human Flesh In Oyo

Published

30 minutes ago

September 18, 2025

Editor

The Police Command in Oyo State has arrested an Islamic cleric, simply identified as Alfa Bashiru, in possession of suspected human flesh.

The Command’s Public Relations Officer, CSP Adewale Osifeso, confirmed this on Thursday in a post on the verified X handle of the Command.

He said that the Federal Highway Patrol team intercepted a white bus with registration number XA 551 IRG, which the suspect allegedly boarded, at the Toll Gate axis of the Ibadan Expressway at 11:30 a.m., on Wednesday.

Oyefeso said that the suspect, when quizzed, claimed to have bought the suspected human flesh in Lagos.

The suspect, he said, had been transferred to the Homicide Section of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Iyaganku, for further investigation.

“The suspected item is undergoing forensic analysis to determine its authenticity and source,” Osifeso said.

In a separate development, operatives of the command during a Search and Stop Operation recovered an abandoned Toyota Camry car with Registration number LSD 957 JX.

Osifeso said that police operatives flagged down the Toyota Camry car during a routine search, and the driver of the car jumped down and took to his heels, abandoning the vehicle.

“The car has been taken into custody by the Command while members of the public with legitimate claims to the vehicle are urged to come forward with verifiable documents or contact the Police Command,” he said.

The police spokesman said that Stop and Search operations were not exaggerated security theatrics, but real and deliberate measures to maintain law and order and as well as ensuring the safety of residents and travellers within Oyo State.

Osifeso said that the command under the leadership of the Commissioner of Police, Femi Haruna, appreciated the public for their continued cooperation and understanding.

He assured them of sustained police efforts to combat crime and foster a more secure environment.

NAN

Metro

Fake Madman Arrested For Cultivating Cannabis Farm In Anambra

Published

1 hour ago

September 18, 2025

Editor

The Anambra State Police Command has arrested a 43-year-old man, Patrick Ojele, for allegedly disguising himself as a mentally unstable person while secretly cultivating a cannabis farm in Awka, the state capital.

The Spokesman for the Anambra State Police Command, Tochukwu Ikenga, stated in a press release on Thursday that operatives attached to the operations department arrested the suspect during a patrol along the Awka–Enugu Expressway, near Ngozika Estate, on Wednesday.

The statement read in part, “The Anambra State Police Command has arrested a 43-year-old man, Patrick Ojele, who pretended to be mentally unstable while secretly cultivating a marijuana farm in Awka, the state capital.

“The police operatives attached to the Operations Department, Awka, nabbed the suspect on September 17, 2025, during a routine patrol along the Awka–Enugu Expressway near Ngozika Estate.

“He later led the team to the hidden farm, where large quantities of weeds suspected to be cannabis sativa were recovered.

“The Commissioner of Police, CP Ikioye Orutugu, noted that the arrest reflects the Command’s renewed strategy of cutting off criminal supplies by targeting drug dealers who embolden cultists and violent offenders.”

According to him, the CP further directed that the suspect should be handed over to the Special Anti-Cultism Squad, Enugwu-Ukwu, for discreet investigation to trace his buyers and dismantle the wider distribution network.

The PUNCH had reported that the police command has arrested no fewer than 54 suspects, comprising 39 males and 15 females, for various offences ranging from kidnapping, cultism, hard drugs and banned substances.

Ikenga said the arrests were followed by coordinated raids by police operatives in Ogidi, Idemili North Local Government Area, and Ifitedunu, Dunukofia LGA, in separate raid operations.

According to him, the coordinated operations were in line with renewed strategies aimed at restoring sanity in the state and curbing the growing menace of crime among young people between 18 and 26 years.