Activists protest at Lagos assembly, demand reinstatement of five LASU lecturers

Activists on Wednesday staged a protest to demand the reinstatement of five lecturers at the Lagos State University (LASU) who were “wrongly” dismissed from service.

The protesters moved from Ikeja under bridge to the Lagos house of assembly to submit their petition on the reinstatement of the five lecturers.

They carried placards with inscriptions such as “The unjust dismissal of ASUU-LASU 5 is academic terrorism. Let scholars breathe!!!”, “We say no to academic terrorism at LASU. Union rights is human rights”, and “Sanwo-Olu — intimidation is not leadership. Recall LASU 5 now”,

The demonstrators called on Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, to reinstate the lecturers and put an end to their suffering.

Speaking with journalists during the protest, Abudu Akinlola Olumayowa, an activist, said the Lagos state government must respect human rights by reinstating the dismissed lecturers.

Olumayowa said the dismissed lecturers are scholars who have tangible knowledge to offer and impact members of the society.

“Today is International Human Rights Day. We are joining others today to demand for protection of human rights,” he said.

“Violations of fundamental human rights must stop. We are here for one of our agitations since 2019. We are calling for the reinstatement of LASU Five.”

BACKGROUND

The lecturers, who are executives of LASU’s chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), were sacked between 2017 and 2019.

The sacked lecturers are Akinloye Isaac Oyewumi (ASUU-LASU chairman), Adebowale Adeyemi-Suenu (vice-chairman), Anthony Dansu (secretary), Adeolu Oluwaseyi Oyekan (assistant secretary), and Oluwakemi Aboderin-Shonibare (treasurer).

The management of LASU sanctioned the lecturers for “unauthorised removal, retention, dissemination, or publication of official documents”.

In February 2022, the David Sunmoni-led governing council of Lagos State University reinstated the sacked lecturers.

The reinstatement came after an appeal committee headed by Adenike Boyo, then deputy vice-chancellor, cleared the lecturers of all offences and recommended their reinstatement.

But 48 hours later, the same governing council reversed itself and put the lecturers’ recall on hold, leaving the affected staff still pursuing justice.