UISU Reaffirms Right to Peaceful Assembly in Commemoration of Kunle Adepeju Day

Oluwatosin Adeoye

The University of Ibadan Student Union, UI’SU, has affirmed that the student populace has the Right to Peaceful Assembly as stated in the constitution of the country.

The Student Union of the Premier University made this affirmation in a release in remembrance of Kunle Adepeju titled “Press Release from the University of Ibadan Students’ Union” “Kunle Adepeju Day: Remembering a Hero of Student Activism”.

The release signed by the Student Union President, Aweda Bolaji, and the General Secretary, Ogundijo Japheth asserted that the union maintained “that the right to peaceful assembly, as enshrined in Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, must be upheld and never subverted under any guise”. 

The Student Union also reaffirmed her unwavering commitment and dedication to fighting for “better welfare conditions for students and ensuring that their right to speak against injustice is upheld – without fear of death, threats, or indiscriminate backlash”.

The Union also called on the law enforcement agencies across the country that engage in victimisation and extra-judicial killings of the citizens whom they were commissioned to protect asserting that “we dare to remind them of the ideals of which these agencies were created – to serve and protect the citizens of Nigeria”.

The release also read in part “we urge all students – within and beyond the University of Ibadan – to draw inspiration from Kunle Adepeju’s bravery and remain steadfast in upholding the values for which he died. His memory is not just history; it is a call to action for the present and the future.”