Appeal Court orders ASUU to end 8-month-old strike

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has ordered members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, to end their eight-month-old strike action and return to the classroom immediately.

The appellate court, in a ruling that was delivered by a three-man panel led by Justice Hamma Barka, stressed that it would not entertain any appeal from ASUU, until it obeyed the order of the National Industrial Court, NIC.

It, however, granted the aggrieved varsity lecturers the leave to proceed with the 14 grounds of appeal they earlier filed to set-aside the interlocutory injunction the NIC gave in favour of the Federal Government.

It will be recalled that the appellate court had earlier urged both FG and ASUU to explore an out-of-court resolution of the dispute that made varsity lecturers to embark on a strike action since February 14.

The NIC had in its ruling on September 21, ordered ASUU to call off the strike action in national interest and for the sake of undergraduates in the country.

It ordered the striking lecturers to return to the classroom, pending the determination of a suit FG filed to query the legality of their strike action.