OAU students protested their colleague’s arrest by storming the EFCC headquarters in Ibadan before they were freed.
58 of the 69 students who had been detained earlier for allegedly engaging in online fraud at Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Osun State, were freed on Wednesday by the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Earlier in the day, during a midnight raid on residence halls off campus, the anti-graft agency detained the students in the EFCC. The commission claims that they were apprehended in the Oduduwa Estate neighbourhood of Ile-Ife as a result of “actionable intelligence” regarding their alleged involvement in fraudulent online operations.
In a phone call with Channels Television, John Alao, the coordinator for the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) in the South-West, verified the students’ release.
“Many of the suspects duly profiled by the Command have been released, while profiling of suspects yet un-released will be completed, without further delay,” stated EFCC spokesman Dele Oyewale, also verifying the release.
Oyewale did not, however, specify the precise number of pupils who were set free.
According to the statement, “Mr. Ola Olukoyede, the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, has directed that sting operations at night be stopped in all the Commands of the EFCC,” in accordance with the recently reviewed procedures on arrest and bail of suspects by the EFCC.
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“The Commission wants to reassure the public that, in carrying out its mandate, it will not waver in its commitment to upholding the law.”
“Protests by Students”
OAU students protested their colleague’s arrest by storming the EFCC headquarters in Ibadan before they were freed.
The students who were demonstrating held a variety of signs that expressed their displeasure with the anti-graft agency’s actions.
“I am a medical student, not a Yahoo boy,” “Why remove the CCTV cameras if you are armed robbers,” and “Criminals trying to arrest criminals” were among the statements on the posters.
Agents of the anti-graft agency have erected a tight security perimeter around their workspace at the EFCC office in Ibadan.
The OAU students were pleading with the commission’s leadership to help them, even with the officers stationed closely around them.
