AFAS UI Decries Aduwo’s Unlawful Arrest, Calls for Justice

Lawal Taiwo Moruf

The Association of Faculty of Arts Students, University of Ibadan, has decried the unlawful arrest of Aduwo Ayodele, a 200 level student of the Department of History, who participated in a peaceful march against tuition fee hike in University of Lagos which was held on September 6.

This was contained in a release signed by the AFAS President, Olaniyi Esther Oluwatoyosi, in which the Association stated that a group of concerned students staged a peaceful protest at the University of Lagos on the recent hike in tuition fee, which unfortunately led to the unlawful arrest of some of the students including Aduwo.

“In the early hours of today, a group of concerned students gathered at the university of Lagos to exercise their democratic right to peaceful protest, expressing their deem concern over the recent hike in tuition fees, however what was intended as a peaceful demonstration took an unfortunate turn when some of our fellow students were unjustly arrested. Among those detained was Aduwo Ayodele, a 200 level student from the Department of History, Faculty of Arts, University of Ibadan”, the statement read.

According to the Association, the incident portrayed an infringement on the fundamental human right and freedom to make a peaceful protest and express their grievances which every citizen should enjoy.

“This incident stands as a stark violation of the fundamental human right and freedom that every citizen should enjoy. The right to peaceful assembly, freedom of expression, and the pursuit of education should never be infringed upon”, the statement further read.

In a reaction to the unlawful arrest, AFAS UI expressed that the incident had sparked a lot of reactions and support on social media platforms whereby “people demanded justice for the arrested students, including our fellow comrade, Aduwo Ayodele” which subsequently led to his release from the police custody.

The Association also expressed gratitude to those who threw their weight behind them during the course of the incident and called on the relevant authorities for a duly conducted investigation on the circumstances surrounding the arrest in order to prevent the recurrence of such incident.