The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, University of Jos Chapter, has expressed concern about the victimisation of its members at some of the country’s public universities.
Prof. Jurbe Molwus, Chairperson of the union at the institution, stated this at a news conference in Jos on Tuesday.
According to Molwus, the affected employees are from Lagos State University (LASU), Ojoo, Kogi State University (KSU), Anyingba, Ebonyi State University (EBSU), Abakaliki, Ambrose Ali University (AAU), Ekpoma, Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), and Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (COOU), Igbariam.
According to him, some of the victimised lecturers had their appointments either illegally terminated or suspended, adding that others were denied promotion or had their salaries withheld.
“At LASU, there has been a running battle against our union which manifested in the victimisation of some leaders of our union in the institution.
”Due to the unpatriotic actions of the state government, KSU Anyigba is today a shadow of itself; it has fallen short of the dreams of its founding fathers with no allegation of infringements leveled against our members yet they are being punished.
”At FUTO, the Vice Chancellor and her collaborators have continued to unjustly punish our faithful members because of their patriotic stance against the illegal appointment of Dr. Isa Pantami to the rank of a Professor.
”Our secretariat at COOU is under lock and key and our members are prevented from holding meetings; their salaries have been withheld for over a year and some of them suspended mainly because they are against the violation of academic standards in the university.
“In all of these, our members have suffered and are still suffering untold hardship. So, we want a stop to the victimisation of our members in public universities,” he said.
The Chairperson added that the continuous victimisation of ASUU members was to blame for the current brain drain in Nigerian universities.
As a result, he urged the judiciary to provide justice as soon as possible in cases involving union members.