Tobias Sylvester
The Law Students Association of Nigeria has dragged the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) before the Federal High Court, Abuja, over the strike action embarked upon by the union.
The law student through its National President, Blessing Agbomhere, sought an award of N10bn as compensation for the violation of their rights to education for the period of about nine months that their public institutions of learning had been shut down.
Agbomhere, a final year Law student at Baze University, who is the sole plaintiff, said he was mandated by a resolution of the Senate of LAWSAN to institute the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1551/2012, which was filed on Friday.
Joined as defendants are, ASUU; ASUU President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi; the Minister of Education; the Minister of Labour and Employment; the Attorney General of Federation; and the Federal Government of Nigeria.
He also sought a declaration that “the indefinite strike action embarked upon by the 1st and 2nd defendants (ASUU and its President) since March 2020 leading to the closure of government-owned universities which has detrimentally and negatively impacted on plaintiff’s learning and the smooth operation of academic calendar of universities is a brazen infraction of the plaintiff’s right to education”.
He also sought an order of mandatory injunction “compelling the 1st and 2nd defendants to call off the strike action and return back to the status quo ante bellum whilst negotiation for amicable resolution of the issues in contention or among the defendants are ongoing.”
The law student sought an order of perpetual injunction restraining ASUU “from further declaring or embarking on indefinite and incessant strike actions which might ultimately interfere, alter, derogate and undermine the Plaintiff’s right to education”,
Agbomhere also sought an order directing “3rd – 6th defendants to re-open government-owned universities forthwith and to honour their contractual agreements with the 1st and 2nd defendants in the overall interest of the plaintiff”.
He sought “the sum of N10,000,000,000.00 (ten billion naira) only as general and exemplary damages for the loss of valuable time, opportunity, mental torture, psychological anguish and general deprivation which the plaintiff has suffered or likely to be exposed to on graduation.”
KanyiDaily recalls that ASUU said it will continue its ongoing strike despite the Federal Government making some concessions on Friday by offering N65 billion to Nigerian universities to address some of the lecturers’ demands.
