…demand licensed guns for local security in tertiary schools

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

AS the security situation in the country continues to deteriorate on daily basis,  the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, has lamented that none of its members was safe any longer.

The union has called on the federal government to license the use of guns for local security on various campuses to protect the institutions.

Speaking at its National Executive Council, NEC, meeting held in Abuja, the National President of SSANU, Comrade Mohammed Haruna Ibrahim said allowing local security in the universities to carry guns would help all the established security agencies that are already overwhelmed with different security challenges such as banditry, kidnapping, cultists’ clashes, terrorism and other criminalities ravaging the country.

According to him, “We are here to deliberate on a wide range of issues. Topmost among those issues are the security of our members who work in the university environment. Our members can’t travel freely, they can’t move around with ease, anytime they do so, they get kidnapped. This is unacceptable!

“We are calling on the federal government to license our security men on campuses who are our members, train and re-train them from time to time and monitor them. By doing this, security challenges in our institutions will reduce. ”

The association bemoaned the government lack of sincerity in keeping to agreements it entered with unions, warning that the government should not paralyse academic activities in tertiary institutions again with its lackadaisical attitude towards the implementation of the Memorandum of Action, MoA, both parties signed.

READ ALSO: Insecurity: Protect our investment, Flour Mills tells State Goverments

He noted with dismay that out of the demands SSANU made, only three have been addressed partially by the government, insisting the suspended strike may resume soon if the issue of IPPIS and others that have continued to make SSANU members poorer than expected were not quickly addressed.

Recall that the leadership of SSANU,  had on February 5, directed all its branches to commence strike with a view to pressing home their demands bordering on alleged injustice on sharing formula of N40 billion Earned Allowance and non-payment minimum wage arrears.

Other contentious issues raised include: inconsistencies in the implementation of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), delay in renegotiation of FG/NASU and SSANU 2009 agreement, non-payment of retirement benefits of outgone members among others.

Vanguard News Nigeria