Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Wednesday described killings in the ongoing #EndSARS protest as a crime against humanity and called on the United Nations to show serious interest in the descent to totalitarianism by the Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government of Nigeria.
While condemning the murder of armless and largely peaceful #ENDSARS protesters at the Lekki Tollgate and other parts of the country, the union stated that the government’s repressive attacks on the advocacy and demands for responsible and responsive governance by Nigerian youth show that Nigeria is tilting towards repressive military governance.
Chairman of ASUU, University of Ibadan, Ayo Akinwole, said “killing youths demanding for justice against brutality and in the process being murdered in cold blood reveals that the security brutality of Nigerians is an agenda of the federal government.
Akinwole said it was a taboo for parents to bury their children, adding that the president has committed a taboo.
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ASUU stated that peaceful protest and demonstration were forms of political participation to bring about positive changes but regretted that the government repressed every voice of reason.
ASUU lamented that the youths have not enjoyed anything good and were being deprived of funding in education, faced unemployment, and worse hit by poverty.
Instead of learning how to be responsible and take care of people as shown by the organisational capacity of the #ENDSARS youth, Akinwole lamented that government tyrannically snuffed lives out of promising future leaders.
He then called for justice for all victims of the Lekki genocide and those killed in other locations in the country adding that the present crop of Nigerian leaders is low on empathy.
The ASUU boss stated that those who train their children abroad or who rush their children abroad for crashing while riding multi-million naira motorbikes must be wicked to see children of hapless Nigerians murdered in cold blood.
“The Federal Government should immediately stop the shooting, maiming, and brutalisation of our students. We affirm their inalienable right to live, be alive, and express their aspirations peacefully as guaranteed in the Nigerian constitution and other international protocols on human rights, including those of the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS), African Union (AU) and the United Nations.
“In light of this, we call on members of the Nigerian political class, and government to rein in the thugs being unleashed on our students and the general public. There is documented evidence that this generation of students and youth in the current anti-police brutality protests is demonstrating extreme maturity as has never been seen in recent times. We commend them all, and urge that they do not be provoked into taking steps inimical to their peaceful objectives.”
