THE Education Rights Campaign, ERC, has strongly condemned the unlawful arrest and subsequent remand in prison custody of Adeyeye Femi and 13 other University of Lagos student activists by policemen on Friday, March 31, 2017, while protesting the suspension of a visually-impaired student and demanding the reinstatement of all suspended student activists.
The 14 students were taken into custody at Kikiri Prison on Saturday, April 1, 2017, on the order of the Special Offenses Mobile Court, Oshodi, where they were arraigned by the Police on completely false charges.
In a statement signed by the group’s national coordinator and secretary, Hassan Soweto and Omole Ibukun, respectively, ERC is demanding their immediate release and that all charges against them, which they alleged were clearly trumped-up, be dropped.
The statement reads in part “We also call on members of the staff unions like ASUU, SSANU, NASU and NAAT in the education sector, to prevail on UNILAG management to immediately reinstate all the activists under victimization and recognize the rights of students to organize a Students’ Union.
“The students were arraigned on the false accusation of disorderly conduct at Television Continental (TVC) where they had gone to press home the demand for the reinstatement of rusticated student activists including a visually challenged student who was the latest victim. This accusation has been publicly denied by the management of TVC. According to the rejoinder by the TVC, the students only came to their premises to condemn the suspension/rustication of student activists and call for their recall.
“The background to this illegal arrest and detention is the repression of students’ activists at UNILAG for leading students’ protests in April 2016 against poor welfare conditions, bed-bug infested mattresses and high cost of food and basic needs on campus. 11 students’ activists were rusticated last year over the protest. Now the number has increased to 13 with the rustication on Thursday, March 30, 2017 of Ochuba Chichebe and Lawrence Success, a visually impaired student.
“We wish to make clear that UNILAG management is complicit in this illegal arrest and detention because this is not the first time the management had employed the services of the police to disperse peaceful protests and repress those campaigning against victimization of students’ activists.”
Calling for the immediate removal of the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni for turning the Police, a public institution funded by tax payers’ money, into private thugs of the management of UNILAG, the ERC demanded that the UNILAG authorities put an end to its growing vindictive actions.
“The Nigerian Police must stop the ingratiating service of deploying state’s forces against student activists who are only making legitimate demands for improvement in their conditions and an end to vindictive suspension/rustication of students.
“We reiterate our demands for the (1) immediate and unconditional release of 14 unjustly detained students, (2) unconditional recall of all victimized student activists, (3) restoration of banned students union and respect for democratic rights of students and education workers, (4) removal of Fatai Owoseni as Lagos CP for turning the Police into the private thugs of UNILAG management, (5) end to the atmosphere of repression and fear imposed on the campus, (6) improved academic and welfare conditions as well as (7) democratic management of the varsity through the involvement of elected representatives of students and staff in all decision-making organs.
Source: Vanguard
