“These untoward developments have negatively affected smooth movement on the road, particularly to our work place to ply our trade. To say the least, our members, staff and students of AAUA and other commuters now live in perpetual fear of any eventuality while plying the road," Sola Fayose, Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU), said.
Worried by the spate of kidnapping on the Akure-Owo-Akoko highway, lecturers of the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko (AAUA) in Ondo State, have expressed worry over their safety.
This was contained in a statement issued by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Friday, the lecturers noting the need to take urgent steps towards ending the incessant kidnappings on the Akure-Owo-Akoko highway.
SaharaReporters had recently reported that the Akure-Owo-Akoko road that leads to the northernsenatorial districts of the state had become a nightmare for road users.
Sola Fayose, Chairman of ASUU at the government-owned institution, signed the statement, which noted that the situation had caused psychological trauma among members of staff of the state university.
Fayose added that the rising scourge of kidnapping in the state had also forced the institution's students transiting on the Owo/Akoko routes to live in palpable fear. He called on security agencies and the state government to tackle the activities of the those, using the bushes as cover.
“Our union is constrained to draw your attention to the worrisome state of the security of lives and property on the Akure-Owo-Akungba highway, which is our regular route to work. The incessant nature and unmitigated brazenness with which armed robbers and kidnappers operate on this road are reflectively anarchistic and perilous," he said.
“These untoward developments have negatively affected smooth movement on the road, particularly to our work place to ply our trade. To say the least, our members, staff and students of AAUA and other commuters now live in perpetual fear of any eventuality while plying the road.
“We, therefore, call on Mr. Governor to use his good office as the Chief Security Officer of the state to take urgent and drastic measures to address this ugly situation. The union also calls on the Police, the DSS and other security agencies to rise up to their constitutional duty of protecting the lives and property of the citizens."
There have been at least 15 different abduction incidents on the highway in the past two months.