Protest rocks Benue

Some students of universities in Benue State under the aegis of Concerned Benue State Students, Wednesday staged a peaceful protest in Makurdi, the state capital over the prolonged federal government/Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, face off.

The aggrieved students who urged the federal government to meet the demands of the striking ASUU members gathered at the second campus of Benue State University, BSU, from where they marched peacefully to the main campus on Gboko road chanting solidarity songs.

Some of the students carried placards with various inscriptions such as; “End ASUU strike now, “Open our campuses, “All we ask is quality education,” “No to IPPIS, yes to UTAS”, among others.

Their leaders, Joseph Kizito, Students Union President of Benue State University and Pius Adaji, Students Union President, University of Agriculture Makurdi, who addressed the gathering decried the prolonged strike and appealed to  Federal Government to urgently meet and dialogue with ASUU to end the strike.

The students who ensured orderliness although the march also had officers of the Nigeria Police who were on hand to forestall any breach of public peace.

It would be recalled that members of ASUU have been on strike for the past six months demanding among others, that its members should be exempted from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, IPPIS, recently introduced by the federal government.