The lingering industrial crisis rocking the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN) in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, took on another dimension Monday morning when hundreds of workers took to the Ibadan-Ijebuode Road to protest against the poor administration of the director of CSIN, Professor Malachy O. Akoroda.
The women, who were nearly nude, were joined by their male counterparts who all chanted anti-management songs. The presence of the police did not deter them from their agitation, but rather seemed to strengthen them.
The workers also barricaded the main entrance of the institute with loads of sand and several wooden posts, upon which they placed placards inscribed with their various complaints and demands of CRIN’s management.
The protesting workers were angered by the arrival of armed police and a payloader to remove their barricades. They accused the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Leye Oyebade, of conniving with the Professor Akorada to suppress their right to protest. They were also supported by community leaders and youth who joined the protest.
A paper jointly signed by Chief Yekeen Ogunyode, the Baale of Odo Onanla, and Solomon Adebiyo read, “We, the entire workers of the Cocoa research institute of Nigeria (CRIN), Ibadan and members of the host communities, decry and condemn in entirety the decision of the Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Leye Oyebade, to use brutal force to suppress the ongoing and legitimate agitation of CRIN workers against the years of despotic and draconian rule of Professor Malachy O. Akoroda, the Executive Director of the institute.”
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