Some soldiers, on Tuesday, dispersed scores of students, who were protesting against the ongoing industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in Akure, Ondo State.

It was gathered that the protesting students had taken over the ever-busy Akure-Ilesa expressway before the soldiers invaded the area and shot indiscriminately.

A video obtained by The Star showed that the soldiers also vandalised items used in the protest.

One of the aggrieved students, who spoke in the video said:  “The Nigerian Army; they came here and started shooting. See all our things. See what the Nigerian Army did to us.

“The Nigerian Army that should protect us, see our equipment. We were here peacefully.

“We are fighting for our rights. See all our things.”

The university lecturers have been on strike since February 14, 2022.

READ ALSO: ASUU, SSANU deny reaching agreement with FG to call off strike

The demands of ASUU include the non-implementation of the Memorandum of Action (MoA) signed with government in December 2020 on funding for revitalisation of public universities (both federal and states), renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ ASUU Agreement, and the deployment of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS).

Other outstanding issues are earned academic allowances, promotion arrears, withheld salaries, non-remittance of third-party deductions, and rejection of UTAS that ASUU technical team developed to replace the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS).

Watch the videos below:

The Star