The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has appealed to the Kogi State Government to reinstate 120 academic staff of Kogi State University (KSU), Anyigba sacked unjustly by the immediate past administration in 2017.
It made the call in a statement issued in Nsukka on Tuesday, signed by Comrade Onyibo Eze, the Chairman of the University of Nigeria (UNN) ASUU chapter.
Eze said that the termination of the appointment of the 120 KSU lecturers who participated in the six-month local strike at the university between February and July 2017, demanding staff welfare and payment of salary arrears, amounted to trampling on their rights and privileges.
He recalled that KSU Anyigba had, on February 2, 2017, embarked on a total and comprehensive strike to press home their demands.
"Payment of their arrears of salaries and emoluments earned academic allowances owed to its members, proper institution funding, university autonomy, and guaranteeing academic freedom, among others.
"The strike action took place after ex-Gov Yaya Bello turned down several attempts by the union to negotiate with the government.
"Rather, the governor, during the strike, proscribed ASUU-KSU and terminated the appointments of the 120 academic staff of the university, which became a subject of litigation.
"Even in the Industrial Court of Nigeria, both Kogi State Government and the KSU Management brought no allegations against the 120 sacked staff as the only argument of being on strike cannot fly," they said.
Onyibo expressed sadness that, as a result of the unlawful retrenchment, four senior members of the affected KSU staff have died due to the hardship and psychological trauma they passed through during the period of the sack.
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"It is unfortunate that these four ASUU members died in the struggle to demand for their rights as well as the welfare of other members.
"It is worth noting that the same government of Gov. Bello, which sacked 120 academic staff for embarking on strike, set up a Visitation Panel that recommended the immediate reinstatement of the stacked staff.
" But the ex-governor failed to implement this recommendation of the Visitation Panel till he left office," he said.
The UNN-ASUU Chairman appealed to the incumbent governor of Kogi State, Ahmed Ododo, to use his good office to reinstate the 120 KSU academic staff members who were sacked as the government Visitation Panel recommended.
"The UNN chapter of ASUU is making this appeal because KSU is part of the Nsukka Zone of ASUU; whatever affects KSU-ASUU affects all of us in the Nsukka ASUU zone.
"This will not only heal the wounds of the seven-year-old affected lecturers but would also redress the injustice meted out to these innocent lecturers and put smiles on their families," he added.
