Police arrest ASUU IMSU officials over strike

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By Emmanuel Iheaka

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OWERRI — Police operatives in Imo State have reportedly arrested some officials of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Imo State University (IMSU) branch, following the union’s declaration of an indefinite strike.

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The officials were said to have been arrested after participating in a radio programme on Tuesday, during which the union discussed its decision to embark on the industrial action.

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Those reportedly arrested included the branch Chairman, Stephen Oguji, and some other officials of the union.

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ASUU-IMSU had on Monday declared an indefinite strike over what it described as the non-implementation of an agreement on the welfare of academic staff and other conditions of service in public universities.

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The union had maintained that the agreement reached with the Federal Government was applicable to state-owned universities.

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Vanguard learnt that the affected officials were later released after several hours of questioning.

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A source at the institution said: “They were arrested after a radio programme in the morning. We tried to reach them but couldn’t.

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“But we learnt they have just been released. The union can never be intimidated by this approach.”

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The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Henry Okoye, had yet to respond to inquiries regarding the reported arrest as of the time of filing this report.

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The strike comes as the university prepares to commence examinations, a development that has reportedly unsettled students and raised concerns about the possible impact of the industrial action on the academic calendar.

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