Anita Ogona
The crisis rocking Federal College of Education, Technical, Akoka, leadership crisis escalated early Thursday morning as unidentified gunmen abducted the Deputy Registrar, Chris Olamiju, from his official residence.
Olamiju, a key figure among the academic and non-academic staff protesting against the continued tenure of Provost Dr. Wahab Azeez, was forcibly taken from his staff quarters around 3 am. The intruders broke down his doors and dragged him away.
According to Vanguard, college sources said the gunmen forcibly entered Olamiju’s residence and abducted him. Some suspect that the assailants may be operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS).
One anonymous source stated, “Staff at FCET, Akoka have been staging peaceful protests for five weeks due to serious allegations of administrative and financial misconduct against the Provost.
At 3 am today, we received disturbing news that Mr. Chris Olamiju, a Deputy Registrar and protest leader, was brutally abducted in a Gestapo-style operation by gunmen believed to be DSS operatives. His family was assaulted, and documents, phones, and laptops were seized, causing chaos in the senior staff quarters.”
The Concerned Workers of FCET, Akoka, issued a statement demanding intervention from the DSS Director-General and concerned Nigerians to ensure Olamiju’s immediate and unconditional release.
They warned that failure to address this issue could lead to a full-blown strike that may spread to other federal and state colleges of education in Nigeria.
Since May 27, the college has been in turmoil as staff and the provost clash over the expiration of Dr. Azeez’s tenure.
Appointed in May 2019 for a four-year term and reappointed in May 2023, Azeez now faces opposition due to a new law signed by President Bola Tinubu in June, limiting provosts’ terms to a single five-year term.
The workers argue that Azeez’s tenure should end, having started in 2019, while Azeez claims the new law doesn’t apply to him.
The college’s Governing Council is currently investigating the tenure issue and other allegations made by both parties.
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