Tension at AAUA as Soldiers Disperse Students Protesting 68-Day Strike

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Tension erupted around Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), on Thursday after soldiers intervened to disperse students protesting the prolonged industrial action that has kept them away from classrooms for about 68 days.

The students, under the leadership of the Students’ Union Government (SUG), took to the streets of Akungba-Akoko and barricaded the university’s main entrance as well as major roads linking the institution to the Akungba-Akoko highway.

They were demanding an immediate resolution of the disputes between the Ondo State Government and university workers’ unions, insisting that the prolonged disruption of academic activities was putting their education and graduation plans at risk.

Reports from the scene said military personnel moved in to disperse the protesters. Video footage reviewed by SaharaReporters showed armed military personnel in camouflage uniforms pursuing and scattering students around the university area. The publication, however, said it could not independently establish whether any student was injured or arrested during the confrontation.

The incident has generated controversy over the use of military personnel in responding to a student protest. Student union officials condemned the intervention and maintained that the students were protesting because of the prolonged closure of the institution.

The General Secretary of the AAUA Students’ Union, Tolulope Adeyefa, criticised the reported military intervention, arguing that the government should resolve the dispute with the striking unions instead of using security personnel against students.

The protest followed weeks of industrial unrest at AAUA involving both academic and non-academic workers.

Members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), AAUA chapter, first commenced an indefinite strike on July 10 over unpaid May and June 2026 salaries. The union said its members would remain on strike until outstanding salaries were paid.

The dispute subsequently widened.

ASUU also raised concerns over the implementation of agreements between university unions and government, while the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), under the Joint Action Committee of Ondo State-Owned Tertiary Institutions, began another indefinite industrial action from midnight on September 2.

The three non-teaching unions accused the state government of failing to implement agreements and meet outstanding obligations, including issues relating to the funding of state-owned tertiary institutions.

For students, the combined industrial actions have meant an extended interruption of academic activities.

Speaking during Thursday’s protest, SUG President Folagbade Greatness Ayoola said students had become frustrated by the continued closure and wanted the government and unions to reach an agreement that would allow academic activities to resume.

The union also expressed concern about students who had already paid their fees but remained out of school, as well as final-year students whose examinations and graduation plans had been thrown into uncertainty.

The General Secretary of the SUG, Oluwatimileyin Amos, said students had spent 68 days away from their classrooms and appealed for immediate action to end the dispute.

AAUA management had already ordered students to leave the university’s halls of residence for a two-week mandatory break. The directive, issued on September 2, followed the escalation of the industrial dispute and was presented as a measure intended to protect students and maintain order amid the disruption.

But the claim that Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa has taken no action over the dispute requires qualification.

On September 3, the Ondo State Government announced that it had paid the outstanding balance of the August arrears under a new subvention arrangement for the state’s tertiary institutions.

The government said the payment marked the beginning of the implementation of a 60 per cent increase in subventions to the affected institutions, with the additional funding intended to help them meet salary obligations and improve workers’ welfare.

Governor Aiyedatiwa subsequently appealed to the striking unions to suspend their industrial action and return to work, saying the move would be in the interest of students and the wider education sector.

The timing is significant because the government’s announcement came on the same day students took to the streets.

It means describing the governor’s position simply as “inaction” does not fully reflect the latest developments. The government has announced financial intervention and called on the unions to return to work. However, the fact that students were still protesting on Thursday demonstrates that those measures had not, at that point, restored academic activities at AAUA.

There is also evidence that the dispute remains unresolved.

A report published on September 4 said ASUU and NASU had rejected aspects of the government’s position on the subvention issue, indicating that the payment announced by the government had not automatically ended the industrial action.

The dispute therefore remains a contest between the government’s claim that it has begun implementing increased funding and the unions’ position that outstanding issues have not been sufficiently resolved.

The military intervention has added another layer to the crisis.

While multiple reports confirm the presence and intervention of military personnel during the protest, the available reporting does not independently establish the full circumstances of the confrontation or confirm claims that students were physically “attacked” in the broadest sense.

Similarly, reports circulating online have made allegations about gunfire during the incident, but those claims should not be presented as established fact without independent confirmation. The available reports reviewed for this story confirm that military personnel were deployed and that they dispersed protesters, but they do not independently establish that live ammunition was fired at students or that anyone was seriously injured.

The protest itself, however, is firmly established.

Students blocked roads, displayed placards and demanded an end to the industrial action that has disrupted their education for more than two months. Reports from the scene described placards carrying messages including “Enough is Enough” and appeals to the striking unions to resolve their differences with government.

The unfolding crisis has left AAUA students caught between a labour dispute and an uncertain academic calendar.

For students, the central demand remains straightforward: an end to the strike and a return to the classroom.

For the government and the unions, however, the disagreement over salaries, subventions and implementation of agreements remains unresolved.

The events at AAUA have now transformed that dispute into a wider public debate over how governments should respond when frustrated students take to the streets to demand the restoration of their education.

As of September 4, the university had not returned to normal academic operations, and the two-month disruption remained unresolved despite the government’s latest financial intervention.