OAU students request apology from EFCC following arrest

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.

According to a report by DAILY POST, the detained students were subsequently transported from Ile-Ife to the Zonal Office of the commission located in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State.

58 students were freed after an uprising by the students that stormed the anti-graft agency's zonal office 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.

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

However, they demanded that the EFCC clear 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.

“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.”

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