The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, ASUP, Federal Polytechnic Ado-Ekiti chapter, has occupied the street to express their dissatisfaction over what they referred to as unlawful detention of their colleagues by the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC).
The aggrieved polytechnic lecturers could be sighted holding placards with various inscriptions.
There’s tension as some members of the polytechnic staff union were invited to the office of the anti financial crime agencies in Ilorin, Kwara state and Akure, Ondo State acting on a petition which was got from some persons over some transactions in the school.
The anti-graft agencies through the Rector’s office invited the suspected lecturers who moved to Ilorin, got detained and interrogated over an alert they got from the institution some months back.
The staff union has described as baseless and unfounded the allegations levelled against their colleagues.
While addressing newsmen during the protest in Ado-Ekiti, Dr Emmanuel Obafemi Abunbi, the Chairman of ASUP, Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti chapter, expressed sadness over the matter and called for the intervention of the management.
“When they came back, we discovered that they were actually arrested because they had to provide surety, and were unjustly detained and profiled as an offender which was unacceptable.
“The money was paid as promotion arrears which was deserved, but were told to refund because they were not yet due which they did accordingly, to a designated account that the management provided.
“They did not apply and since it was refunded and now for EFCC to call it criminal, is way too far.
“We agreed that part of the key functions of the EFCC are to investigate all financial crimes, including advance fee fraud, money laundering, counterfeiting, illegal charge transfers, but we are not satisfied with this particular action hence the protest to show our grievances.”
“We want the management to reach out to EFCC to clarify that we know nothing about these transactions and the money is no longer in our custody,” he concluded.
One of the lecturers, Mr Samuel Abereola, who’s the Head of Marketing Department, Federal Poly Ado-Ekiti while narrating his experience in the hands of the agencies, confessed that he was punished unjustly.
While reacting to the issue, Prince Adeyemi Adejolu, the Director of Protocols, Information and Public Relations of Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, said, “It’s true that some faceless people styled as concerned old students of this institution wrote a petition to the security agencies, especially the anti-graft agencies, that’s EFCC and ICPC which received the petition.
“They were calling for an investigation of what is happening in the institution, so the EFCC wrote requesting for documents and since it is still under the law, we obliged them the list of transactions and at the end of the day, some staff were invited.
“They are alleging that some staff were colluding with the management to serve as conduit pipes to siphon the resources of the institution.”