…Angry students set to block Abuja airport, Kaduna road today
The National Association of Nigerian Students has rolled out a new timetable for its nationwide protests.
In the timetable, signed by the ‘President-Elect’ of the student body, Usman Barambu, dated Monday, NANS scheduled the protests to hold zone by zone, from its Zone A to Zone E, with Abuja being the location for a final protest.
The angry students had on Monday blocked the access roads to both the local and international terminals of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, leaving air passengers and others stranded.
Speaking to The PUNCH on Tuesday, the chairman, NANS National Task Force, ‘EndASUUstrike,’ Olumide Ojo, said students did not protest at the Apapa Port as earlier scheduled for Tuesday to allow them strategise and plan for an impactful protest on Wednesday.
Ojo said: “We decided to use today (Tuesday) to appraise our protest on Monday at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja. By tomorrow (Wednesday) morning, we will be grounding the Nnamdi Azikwe Airport, Abuja and Kaduna-Abuja Expressway.
“We will also be at Iwo Road, Ibadan where we will hold a press conference. It will be a simultaneous action. On Thursday, our colleagues in the South-South and South East will mobilise for a showdown too.”
The Coordinator of the South West Zone D of NANS, Adegboye Olatunji, also confirmed the Wednesday plan, saying “Yes, there will be protests at the Abuja Airport on Wednesday.
Also speaking, the National President, NANS, Usman Barambu, said Nigerian students had overstayed at home, saying the government should open the universities so that students could go back to school.
A letter written by Barambu to some organs of the association indicated that the students’ protest would last till October 11, 2022.
Ctedit: Adaptation from different reports by The PUNCH.