Soldiers dismantle barricades on Ife/Ilesha/Akure Expressway, threatens protesting OAU students

By Deborah Oladejo, Osogbo

A convoy of soldiers on Wednesday ran into the barricades mounted by protesting students of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, over the ongoing strike by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). 

The students had mounted sbarricades close to Oduduwa University roundabout and also at the Moro end of Ife/Ilesha/Akure Expressway, thereby causing traffic gridlock and making it difficult for motorists to ply the road.

It was gathered that when the convoy got to the scene of the protest, the soldiers appealed to the students to allow them pass, a demand that was resisted by the protesters.

The soldiers then forced their way through by dismantling the barricades. 

Speaking on the incident, a student of the institution who was part of the protest, Ayobami Eruobami, said: “The soldiers threatened to kill us for not allowing them to pass. They wanted to use their guns, which really scared some of our people at the barricades. They forced their way through but we reconvened after they left to continue the protest.”