Students from different tertiary institutions under the aegis of National Association of Nigerian Students on Monday locked out federal and state workers in Plateau State.
The angry students were protesting the ongoing nationwide strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities.
The students had converged in front of the National Library located along the ever-busy Yakubu Gowon Way in Jos around 8:am and later moved to the federal secretariat located within Tudun Wada community and locked the gate, preventing the workers from going in while those already inside were trapped in their offices.
Some of the civil servants told The PUNCH in Jos on Monday that the students, after locking the gate of the federal secretariat for some hours moved to the nearby state secretariat where they also locked the gate
Civil servants said “I left my house in the morning to my office at the Federal Secretariat but when I got to the gate, I saw many young men and women with placards singing solidarity songs. I was afraid to go in. When I enquired what was happening, I discovered that they are students.
“They said they would not allow people to pass through the gate. So, I and my other colleagues who also came to work returned home because they locked the secretariat gate and prevented us from having access to our offices.”
When Our Correspondents visited the State Secretariat around 12:pm, some of the students were seen chanting solidarity songs.
They also displayed placards with different inscriptions calling on the government to resolve their differences with ASUU to enable them return to campus.
Some of the placards read “Employment comes with age limits; NYSC comes with age limits. Stop toying with our life plans. End ASUU strike permanently”, “Four or five-year courses turn six to eight years since 1999. End ASUU strike permanently”, “Stop the madness because your children school abroad. End ASUU strike permanently”, among others.
Some of the students said the protest will continue until the government find a solution to the problem
The PUNCH reports that ASUU had earlier in February declared a nationwide strike to press home its demands for the federal government to address the problem in the education sector.
According to the union, the warning strike would last for four weeks
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