By: Manoah Kikekon
Marking World Human Rights Day 2025, human rights activists took to the streets of Lagos to demand the immediate reinstatement of five lecturers dismissed from Lagos State University (LASU).
The peaceful protest, which commenced on Wednesday December 10, 2025 at the Ikeja Under Bridge and proceeded to the Lagos State Government House in Alausa, targeted the state government over the long-running and controversial sack of the academics, who are all executives of the university’s chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The protest organised under the banner of the “End Bad Governance” committee, the group presented a stern list of demands. Comrade Kehinde Adeoye, the immediate past chairman of a leading human rights coalition, read the petition signed by Comrade Hassan Soweto.
It called on the Lagos State Government to: unconditionally reinstate the five lecturers; pay all backlogged salaries and allowances accrued during their “unjust dismissal”; and cease further interference in independent unionism within Lagos State public universities.
The dismissed lecturers are Dr. Akinloye Isaac Oyewumi (former ASUU-LASU Chairman), Dr. Adebowale Adeyemi-Suenu (Vice-Chairman), Dr. Anthony Dansu (Secretary), Dr. Adeolu Oluwaseyi Oyekan (Assistant Secretary), and Dr. Oluwakemi Aboderin-Shonibare (Treasurer). They were sacked by LASU management between 2017 and 2019 for alleged “unauthorised removal, retention, dissemination, or publication of official documents.”
The protesters found audience at the State Assembly. Hon. Adebola Shabi, representing Lagos Mainland Constituency 2, alongside two other lawmakers, received the petition. He commended the protesters for their peaceful conduct and offered assurances.
“I can assure you on behalf of the Honourable Speaker, Dr. Mudashiru Obasa… this petition will get quick attention,” Shabi stated. He highlighted the assembly’s proactive approach to petitions, noting that members often conduct on-site investigations. “We have a committee on human rights; we will get back to you,” he promised.
The case has been a legal and administrative rollercoaster for the affected dons. In February 2022, the university’s Governing Council, led by David Sunmoni, reinstated the lecturers following the recommendations of an Appeal Committee chaired by then-Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Adenike Boyo, which cleared them of all charges.
However, in a shocking reversal, the same council suspended the reinstatement just 48 hours later, a decision that has left the lecturers in professional limbo for years.