News
Whereabout of students whisked away for confronting Wike at OAU parley unknown
There seems to be confusion about the whereabouts of two students of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State, who were escorted out by security for confronting Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the school premises on Thursday, as authorities of the institution, denied they are not in their custody.
The PUNCH Metro, quotes the authorities as saying that the students who were seized from the auditorium of the institution and spirited out by security operatives attached to the Minister were not being detained.
Nonetheless, fellow students of the institution are calling for the release, a situation which implies that the students might not be free after all despite the explanation by OAU that they were merely escorted out of the event, where Wike was delivering a lecture.
The FCT minister, was said to be delivering the institution’s Distinguished Personality Lecture at the university’s Oduduwa Hall on the topic, Nigeria of Our Dreams, when the students, identified Oladepo Joshua and Ejike Kelechi, pulled out placards inside the hall to call Wike out, to demand compensation those that he demolished their homes in Abuja.
The report, quoting a video, stated that the duo was subsequently whisked out of the hall by security officials while the minister was speaking, adding further inquiries confirmed from sources that the students were taken to the security base of the institution known as Floor 0 in the Senate Building of the school.
“They were in Oduduwa Hall for the event Wike came for. We presently don’t know their whereabouts, one of the students, who gave her name simply as Gift for fear of victimisation, was quoted to have said, while another student, added: “I’m just getting to Floor 0. They were taken to Floor 0 together with security details attached to Wike. They wanted to take them away. But I learnt security operatives appealed to Wike’s security officials not to take them away.”
But Abiodun Olarewaju, the institution’s spokesman, while confirming that security operatives actually helped the students out of the hall, reportedly said that they were not detained, adding that escorting them out was a protective cover to prevent angry colleagues from attacking or harming them.
“Everybody has a right to protest, and the minority, microscopic minorities, should not disrupt what the overwhelming majority allows. So, they were not arrested; they were only escorted out of the Oduduwa Hall. We didn’t want the situation to escalate, because some of their colleagues were the ones who accosted them.
“You know, when about 20 students descended on two students, something could happen. So, the security operatives there just apprehended the two students, took them out of the hall,” Olarewaju, was quoted as saying.
Stressing that all he knew was that they (security officials) “rescued them (the students) from being beaten by their colleagues,” he reportedly added: “I mean, how can just two students, only two students, decide to disrupt what other students said they like? So, so that their colleagues will not beat them, or injure them, or do anything untoward, that was why our security personnel just took them out of the hall.”
But the report also quoted a group, the Alliance of Nigerian Students Against Neoliberal Attacks, who were apparently unfazed with the explanation as demanding for the immediate release of the “arrested” students.
“We demand the immediate and unconditional release of our comrades. We urge the Nigerian public, the Great Ife Students’ Union, the Academic Staff Union of Universities, other progressive unions, civil society groups, the media, and all defenders of justice to rise in condemnation of this repression,” ANSA’s Deputy National Coordinator, Ikechukwu John, was quoted to have said.
The Education Rights Campaign’s National Mobilisation Officer, Adaramoye Michael, also said: “The arrest of these two student activists is condemnable, and it shows the despotism obtainable in tertiary institutions today.”
However, the Students’ Union, was quoted to have said it was not abreast with full details of the incident, with Aka Daniel, its spokesman saying: “As of this time, I just heard rumours. At this particular event, I was not in attendance, and I don’t have any detailed report yet.”
“The suspect offered ₦500 million to the SPU commander in an attempt to make the team stand down and allow him to contact his associates to move the consignment elsewhere. The offer was rejected immediately and properly documented for further investigation.”
These were the exact words of Olohundare Jimoh Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), with which he detailed how operatives of the Zone 2 Command of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) scoffed at a N500million bribe to turn their eyes off the importation of a huge consignment of drugs imported into the country.
This was part of the details of a major breakthrough by the operatives after bursting a major drug trafficking syndicate in Lagos, which led to the seizure of suspected illicit drugs estimated at ₦7.8 billion and arresting several suspects, including the alleged kingpin.
In the operation, reportedly carried out by officers of the Special Protection Unit (SPU) in collaboration with divisional police detectives, the operatives, were said to have stormed a house in Mende, Maryland area of Lagos, following months of surveillance and intelligence gathering coordinated by the Zone 2 Headquarters.
The recovered drugs consisted of hundreds of bags of suspected Canadian Loud, allegedly stored in the residence of the prime suspect, Jimoh, said disclosing that the suspect was apprehended on May 19 after weeks of strategic monitoring by operatives.
Offering further details, he said the operation was executed with technical support and guidance from the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Disu, alongside coordinated efforts between the SPU and divisional police teams.
Jimoh revealed that during the operation, the suspect allegedly attempted to bribe the SPU commander with ₦500 million to compromise the mission and allow the movement of the drug consignment.
The AIG described the development as a reflection of the renewed professionalism and operational discipline being entrenched in the Force under the current policing strategy.
He noted that the success of the operation underscored the importance of deploying specialized police units alongside conventional divisional teams in tackling organized crime.
According to him, the operation demonstrated the effectiveness of rapid containment strategies, intelligence-led policing, and professional conduct among the operatives involved in the raid.
“Rapid containment was achieved as the Special Protection Unit worked with divisional teams to secure the perimeter and prevent escape or interference with evidence.
“The operation was intelligence-driven, following months of surveillance and technical monitoring before the raid was carried out.
“The immediate rejection and documentation of the bribe attempt also reflect the standard expected from redeployed personnel at the divisional level,” Jimoh added.
Reacting to the development, the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Disu, commended the operatives for their professionalism, saying the success of the operation validated the ongoing redeployment of personnel to divisions and units across Lagos and Ogun states.
The IGP noted: “Policing must be close to the people, and our specialized units must work side by side with divisional teams on the ground.
“The professionalism shown by the SPU commander in rejecting a ₦500 million bribe and following due procedure is the standard we expect. It shows that when you put your best foot forward at the grassroots, you get results and restore public trust.”
Disu further assured that the Force leadership would continue to reward integrity while holding officers accountable to the highest ethical standards.
Police authorities said exhibits recovered during the operation have been properly documented and will be tendered in court. The suspects are currently in custody while investigations continue to track down other members of the drug trafficking network.
Slavery is a wound on the memory of the Universal Church, Pope Leo XIV, said on Monday, as he issued a fresh apology over the participation of the the Catholic Church in the centuries-long delay in condemning slavery.
The pontiff stressed the position of the church after his predecessors had offered similar apologies, said: “For this, in the name of the Church, I sincerely ask for pardon.”
Writing in a major text that warned about “new forms of slavery” behind the digital economy, the joined John Paul II, who denounced slave trade in 1992 before issuing a sweeping request for forgiveness for historical injustices in 2000 and Pope Francis who also repeatedly denounced contemporary forms of slavery.
In his own vein, Pope Leo, pointed out that the Church owned slaves until the Middle Ages and it also advised European sovereigns on how to justify the enslavement of “infidels.”
He stressed in “Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity), a document focused primarily on the rise of artificial intelligence, that it was only in the 19th century that “a formal, absolute and universal condemnation of slavery was clearly articulated.”
Hear him: “It is true that past events cannot be judged anachronistically, as though the moral criteria that matured over time had always been available. Yet neither can we deny or diminish the delay with which both society and the Church came to denounce the scourge of slavery. This constitutes a wound in Christian memory, one from which we cannot consider ourselves detached.”
Qowiy Oloyede, a resident of Oriya Sokoto road, Atan Ota, is currently telling operatives of the Ogun State Colice command, the reasons that pushed him into making a video suggesting that a part of the state was under attack of terrorists, knowing same to be fake.
Oloyede, reports say, dragged to the police on May 23 by one Ayinla Sodiq, who accused him of creating and sharing a misleading TikTok video falsely claiming that bandits had invaded the Atan Ota community..
Zagazola Makama, a counterinsurgency publication, which broke the news, said on immediately being questioning by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Oloyed, allegedly confessed to fabricating the video to gain followers on social media.
Apart from admitting that that he created the fake bandit attack content to gain followers and trend online, said in a video currently on social media the herder featured in the clip was a cattle rearer who usually grazed cows behind his shop and had initially refused to participate before eventually agreeing.
Oloyede, who also claimed he could neither read nor write, adding that his apprentice wrote the caption accompanying the video posted online, maintained that he had only produced and posted two similar videos, one on Monday and another on Wednesday.
The command, said to have recovered photographs and video evidence linked to the fake publication during preliminary investigation, added that the suspect would be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Abeokuta, for further investigation, warning residents against spreading false information capable of causing panic and public disorder, and for the public to verify information before sharing content on social media.
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