Osun: Poly lecturers boycott exams, demand suspension of students’ leader

Members of Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) at the Federal Polytechnic, Ede, Osun State have refused to conduct second-semester examinations billed to start today over a disagreement between one of the lecturers and the president of the Students’ Union Government.

It was gathered that the crisis began when a car belonging to the lecturer reportedly caused an accident where it was parked within the premises of SUG, in which two students were injured.

According to the SUG President, Comrade Rufai Opeyemi, the accident resulted to violent reaction from the students, and an attempt was made to set the car ablaze but for his prompt intervention and tactical move to persuade the agitating students by deflating the tyres of the vehicle.

He said his intervention did not go down well with the lecturer, who reported the case to ASUP and later referred to Students’ Disciplinary Committee.

” A vehicle, belonging to one of the Lecturers, which was parked in front of the SUG office caused an accident, which led to two students sustaining injuries. This sparked the anger of students who wanted to burn down the vehicle, but I decided to deflate the tyres as an alternative to calm the angry students down.

“The lecturer felt offended and reported to ASUP, the matter was referred to students disciplinary committee and the committee gave recommendation to the management in which I was given a warning letter, but that didn’t go down well with ASUP, who continued to press for my suspension”, he said.

Meanwhile, the Secretary of ASUP in the school, who simply identified himself as Mr Akinola when contacted on the phone said the association and the management were currently meeting to discuss the way forward, as he promised to get back for more details.

In the same vein, the Public Relations Officer of the school, Mr Shola Lawal confirmed that there is an ongoing discussion between ASUP and the school management.

It was further learnt that the second-semester examination has been shifted to Wednesday, due to the refusal of ASUP to make themselves available for the exercise, as management continues discussion with the union.