Abiodun Nejo, Ado Ekiti
Students of the Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, on Wednesday protested alleged harassment and arrest of four of them under the guise of being suspected to be involved in cybercrime, popularly called ‘yahoo’ by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The students, who alleged that the EFCC operatives had been laying siege to them and arrested some of them at the school gate and in their hostel rooms, appealed to the EFCC acting chairman, Mr Ibrahim Magu, to order them to stop harassing innocent students.
The protesting students blocked the Ado – Ifaki Road for hours thus disrupting vehicular movement and preventing some lecturers from accessing the campus.
The Director of Welfare, EKSU Students’ Union Government, Temitope Aladejare, said that four of his colleagues were arrested on Wednesday, accusing the EFCC operatives of coming “to the hostel in front of the EKSU main gate and arrested four of our members.
“Two of the victims were even naked in their rooms when they pounced on them. When they came, they introduced themselves as operatives of the EFCC and forcibly bundled the victims into a van and took them to an unknown destination. We are calling on government authorities to call them to order”, he said
EKSU Public Relations Officer, Mr Bode Olofinmuagun, said he was not on campus and that he didn’t have first-hand information about the arrest and the protest staged by the students.
But the spokesperson for the police in Ekiti State, DSP Caleb Ikechukwu, said he would confirm that arrests were made which triggered the students to embark on a protest.
Ikechukwu said, “The students protested and they blocked the major highway and prevented commuters from moving in and out of the state capital. This we will never condone because that road is not within the confines of the university.
“They obstructed vehicular movements for hours, but we have been able to remove those blockages and restored peace and order around the school premises”, the police spokesman said.