Delta State University, Oleh Campus was reportedly shut down by sacked workers of the institution who were protesting their job termination.
Academic
activities at the institution were interrupted on Monday, November 7,
by the aggrieved workers who are reportedly members of the community in
Isoko South council area of the state, Punch reports.
The
varsity was overrun by the protesters at about 6:15am, blocking the
main entrance to the Law and Engineering faculties, while demanding the
reinstatement of the sacked workers.
Punch reports that the son of the traditional ruler, Prince Obrozie Ovrawah,
who was also one of the sacked workers, led the protesters who's
employment were also recently terminated by the institution alongside
some members of the community.
A source tells Punch that Ovrawah was dismissed over alleged misconduct.
While describing their sack as illegal, the sacked workers accused the vice-chancellor, Prof Victor Peretimode,
of playing ethnic politics by sacking Isoko indigenes and allegedly
replacing them with his kinsmen from Ijaw ethnicities secretly.
Pleading anonymity, the source tells Punch,
“The Odiologbo’s son (Ovrawah) was a staff at the Oleh campus of DELSU
and was fired for alleged misconduct. It was alleged that he mobilised
members of the community to protest the sacking of Isoko people. Some
private security staff that were also suspended by their employer also
joined the protest.
“They
barricaded the main entrance of the school early this morning,
preventing workers and students from gaining access to the school. But
security agents drafted to the area at about 10am were able to disperse
the protesters.”
Ovrawah said that
he and the other protesters decided to shut the school gate in protest
of the alleged impunity by the university authorities in dismissing four
security personnel for allowing him access to the school premises.
“We
came here to protest impunity by the university VC who ordered the sack
of our brothers. The four security officers are from this community.
Their offence is for allowing me to enter the campus to drop my children
for school because I sued the school authority for my illegal
dismissal. Unlike other campus, the VC brought an Ijaw man to be the
Chief Security officer when it is the right of our people (Isoko) to do
such a job,” he said.
However, President-General of Oleh Community, James Obeuwou, when contacted, confirmed the incident but claimed that the community had no part in it.
He said,
“We are not part of the protest. We cannot block the entrance to our
own school. I learnt that a set of aggrieved persons who were recently
sacked and some others who were suspended from their duty posts were
behind the protest.
“The
security personnel were not full staff of the institution. They were
employees of a private security company and were suspended for what I
don’t know at the moment. But l can tell you categorically that Oleh
community was not a party to the protest.”
The Public Relations Officer, DELSU, Eddy Agbure, is yet to make any comments on the issue.
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