Law graduates of the National Open University of Nigeria, NOUN, Thursday, petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari over the persistent harassment of its officials by the Department of State Security, DSS.
In a statement in Abuja, signed by Mr. Carl Umegboro and Mr. Ado Usman Garba, Chairman and Secretary respectively, of Law Graduates Forum, LGF, of NOUN, the harassment by the DSS was over the refusal of the Nigerian Law School to admit law graduates of the school, one year after the President assented to the NOUN Amended Act.
READ ALSO:- Buhari’s Assent: 1 year running, NOUN Law graduates’ fate blurred
The group described that the use of the DSS by unknown persons to harass the graduates as an act of conspiracy and sabotage, while it called on the president to investigate the claim and ensure the implementation of the law as it concerns their admission into the law school.
They said, “We, once again, express our profound gratitude for Your Excellency’s assent to the NOUN (Amendment) Act on the 7th December, 2018 with intention to resolve the protracted crisis on our admission into the Nigerian Law School since the first set graduated in 2013.
“Your Excellency, Sir,we however, regret to note that on the 7th day of December, 2019, the assent of the NOUN (Amendment) Act will be one year old. Yet, the innocent citizens that were persuaded by federal government to apply for admission into her institution; National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) for accredited course of study are being frustrated since their graduation
“It may shock Your Excellency to know that apart from adopting sundry delay tactics to keep us waiting in perpetuity, despite Your Excellency’s interventions, some interested persons have been using the DSS to harass us each time we made attempts to cry out through peaceful protests. So far, our leader had been summoned five times by the DSS to stop us from peaceful protests.”
READ ALSO:- Who is Sabotaging NOUN and its Law Graduates?
He noted that the patience of the law graduates had worn out, adding that they would no longer sit and watch fresh graduates admitted into the Nigerian Law School for vocational training while they roam the streets.
They added that, “We reiterate our confidence that the weak cannot be emasculated under your watch as the leader of our dear country, and this cognizanc eas attested earlier has kept us from not reacting negatively as many students would do under such circumstances and provocations since your assumption of office in 2015.
“For emphasis, the law school students that were called to bar on 26 November, 2019 graduated from their various universities in 2018. Meanwhile, the 2013 set from NOUN are roaming the streets.
“Your Excellency, Sir, it is important to note that we applied for admission into NOUN, following authorities’ conviction particularly the National Universities Commission, NUC, that NOUN’s Faculty of Law is accredited. Besides, the same federal government that established NOUN also owns the Nigerian Law School.
“We, therefore, once again appeal to Your Excellency to ensure that the ongoing admission in the Nigerian Law School does not exclude NOUN law graduates as we have been subjected to unbearable hardships and adversities for no just cause.”
READ ALSO:- Prof Abdalla and The Soaring Image of NOUN
SOURCE:- https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/11/noun-law-graduates-petition-buhari-accuse-dss-of-harassment/
