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The Chairperson of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Imo State University chapter (ASUU-IMSU), Stephen Oguji and other lecturers have been released by the police in Imo State after being briefly detained for embarking on a strike.
A source close to the ASUU chairperson who does not want to be named has informed CrimeFacts that the police operatives released the lecturers at 5:40 p.m. on Tuesday.
Recall that the police in Imo State arrested Oguji, over the declaration of a total and indefinite strike in IMSU on Monday.
CrimeFacts gathered that police operatives from the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) also arrested other ASUU-IMSU officials and all of them have been detained at the police headquarters in Owerri.
Thks newspaper understands that the union is preparing to hold press conference over the arrests.
When CrimeFacts reached out to the police spokesperson in state, Henry Okoye did not answer nor return calls placed across to him on Tuesday.
Why the stroke
ASUU-IMSU had said that the Imo State Government and the IMSU management failed to implement an agreement on improved welfare and conditions of service for academic staff.
The union said the action followed several engagements with the university management and the expiration of a 21-day ultimatum issued by the union without any meaningful response.
It also lamented that the agreement, signed by ASUU and the Federal Government on December 23, 2025, was scheduled to take effect from January 1, 2026.
The lecturers also raised concerns over several outstanding financial and welfare issues, including the non-payment of promotion arrears dating back to 2016, unpaid salaries owed to some members for several months, 21 months of withheld check-off dues and the non-payment of Earned Academic Allowance since 2009.
The union further faulted the continued retention of the university under the Treasury Single Account, describing the arrangement as “a complete erosion of university autonomy.”
According to the lecturers, the issues were not new, recalling that similar grievances led to industrial action in 2024 before the strike was suspended following an appeal and assurances from the university management.
The union said its members had continued to work despite what it described as the neglect of their welfare obligations.
ASUU-IMSU also said the agreement was already being implemented in some state-owned universities, including institutions in Bauchi, Ekiti, Ogun, Osun and Sokoto states.
The union therefore called on the Imo State Government to urgently direct the implementation of the agreement at IMSU.
It also appealed to traditional and religious institutions, civil society organisations, parents, student unions and other stakeholders to prevail on the Visitor to the university to intervene.
