OAU student arrest: Union wants EFCC to apologise

Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, students have requested an apology from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in response to the Wednesday morning arrest of 69 of their peers during a dawn raid outside the university’s residence halls.

According to the university’s Students’ Union, those who were arrested were also students there.

The detained pupils were subsequently transported from Ile-Ife to the commission’s Zonal Office in Ibadan, the state capital of Oyo State, according to a report by OBASANJO NEWS24.

Read Also: EFCC has released 58 OAU students who were apprehended on suspicion of engaging in internet fraud

58 students were freed after an uprising by the students that stormed the anti-graft agency’s zonal headquarters in Iyaganku, Ibadan on Wednesday, and the university’s management intervened.

The release of the students was also confirmed by Abiodun Olanrewaju, the OAU spokesperson.

Of the students, fifty-eight were released to us. There are cases to answer for the other eleven of them.

However, they asked that the EFCC clean the names of their members in a statement signed on Thursday by the union’s president, Abbas Ojo; secretary general, Akinboni Opeyemi; and PRO, Omisore Elijah.

The remaining 11 students’ release is being pursued, according to the student unionists.

Along with demanding the release of our students, the union’s leadership is working closely with solicitors to ensure that Great Ife students are safe from the hedonistic activities of these misguided law enforcement organisations both on and off campus.

“We further request that the EFCC issue a public statement exonerating the names of the students who are unlawfully detained from the baseless accusations that were posted on their social media accounts. This statement should be disseminated throughout the entire nation, with the earlier posts having already been removed from all of their online presences.”

Omisore, the union’s PRO, continued, saying, “We want the EFCC to clear the students’ names and apologise.”