OAU students demand EFCC’s apology, release of colleagues

Students of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, have asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to tender an apology following the arrest of 69 of their colleagues in a dawn raid outside campus hostels on Wednesday.

The Students’ Union of the university said the arrested persons were students of the university.

The Editor  had reported that the arrested students were later conveyed from Ile-Ife to the commission’s Zonal Office in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

Following a protest by the students who stormed the zonal office of the anti-graft agency at Iyaganku, Ibadan on Wednesday and the intervention of the management of the university, 58 of the students were released.

The OAU Spokesperson, Abiodun Olanrewaju, also confirmed the students’ release.

“Fifty-eight of the students were released to us. The remaining 11 of them have cases to answer.”

However, in a statement jointly signed by the union’s president, Abbas Ojo; Secretary General, Akinboni Opeyemi and PRO, Omisore Elijah, on Thursday, they demanded that the EFCC clear the names of their members.

The student unionists also said efforts were on to seek the release of the remaining 11 students.

“Also, with the demand for the release of our students, the leadership of the union is making concerted efforts with legal practitioners to guarantee the protection of Great Ife students within and off campus against the decadent actions of these misguided law enforcement agencies.

“We also demand that the EFCC tenders a public release clearing the names of the unlawfully incarcerated (students) of the unfounded allegations published on their media handles and broadcast to the whole country in which the earlier published posts had already been pulled down across all their social media platforms.”

Speaking further, the union’s PRO, Omisore, said, “We want the EFCC to apologise and clear the names of the students.”