UniAbuja kidnapping: ASUU demands immediate ransom for its members

The University Academic Staff Union (ASUU), a branch of Abuja University, has called on the Federal Government and security agencies to immediately rescue and release all kidnapped university staff members. Newslodge had reported that the gunmen, who have not yet been identified, invaded the institution’s staff quarters on Tuesday morning and took the victims away. The branch president, Dr. Kasim Umar, made the call Thursday at a press conference in Gwagwalada, while reacting to the recent kidnapping of his members from the university staff units. Umar, who expressed concern about the insecurity situation, said that unless strict and urgent measures are taken to rescue its members, things could get worse. He said the senior staff quarters were built by President Shehu Shayari’s administration, originally as a police barracks at the beginning of the university in 1988 and later converted into temporary accommodation for the founding staff. “We demand the immediate rescue and release of all our kidnapped members, children and other personnel, who are currently being held by criminals; The government must act quickly to ensure this is done. “The perimeter fences around the staff quarters must be installed immediately because there is a need for effective movement control around the university premises. “There must be active cooperation between the army, other security agencies and the university administration. “For this to be effective, ASUU requires the establishment of a rapid response unit in the form of a joint task force or a mobile police unit or a military special force, which could be called upon in case of any emergency. . “We call for the immediate removal of all squatters and trespassers from the campus. “It is necessary to embark on the immediate construction of residential neighborhoods that conform to the status of a university in the Federal Capital Territory,” said NAN, quoted by him. Umar revealed that the entire staff barracks were in disrepair and the road infrastructure had completely deteriorated, adding that parts of the perimeter fence had also collapsed, making security around the barracks almost non-existent. He stressed that student shelters are very unsafe and the entire campus vulnerable to all kinds of attacks. “Unauthorized persons have occupied some parts of the university grounds, thus increasing the state of insecurity on campus.”