ASUU to appeal N5m judgment award to student against UNIJOS lecturer

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Jos Chapter on Saturday said it would appeal a N5 million judgment awarded a student against one of its members by a Jos Federal High Court.

Dr Lazarus Maigoro, ASUU Chairman, University of Jos, made the pronouncement in a press release he signed and made available to The Nation in Jos.

Justice Musa Kurya of Federal high Court II, Jos had on 23rd June, 2021 given the N5m judgment to a dismissed master’s programme student, Mrs. Georgina Mark-Davou, against her former lecturer and project supervisor, Mr Thaddeus Longdu’ut, who is currently undergoing studies in the United Kingdom (UK).

It was gathered that the court gave the judgment to the student following his (Longdu’ut’s) absence and non-representation in Court throughout the proceedings/sittings on the matter brought before the Court by the dismissed student.

“I want to categorically state that the ASUU and the university will definitely appeal the judgment.

“The union, based on available information from the department, wishes to put it on record that the staff in question, her former supervisor, Mr Thaddeus Longdu’ut, who is currently on study leave in the United Kingdom), has been supervising M.Sc. students for many years and none of his candidates ever repeated or submitted his or her dissertation late for external defence.

“He is one of the lecturers in the department who always insists that things be done in the right way and according to the university regulations.

“The university legal unit and the legal retainer did not deem it necessary to go to the Department of Economics and the school of postgraduate studies to obtain information on the status of the said student but went to court and attempted to defend the matter without adequate information.

“We were thus taken aback seeing the judgment in the light of these verifiable facts in the Department of Economics and the School of Postgraduate Studies.

“These facts are information that any interested party including legal counsels could have obtained on the status of the said student without recourse to the current attempt at casting a hardworking, dedicated staff of the university in bad light.”

source:The Nation