A protest against fee hikes at the University of Ibadan took a tense turn when Nigerian Army officers arrested and detained four individuals. The detainees, identified as Aduwo Ayodele, Made Gbadegesin, Olorunfemi Adeyeye, and Nice Linus, were taken away in an Army van during a demonstration on Monday.
Adeyeye, who is also the National Secretary of the African Action Congress, managed to record a distressing video from inside the van, showing a man in military uniform clinging to the vehicle as it sped away towards the Agodi area of Ibadan.
The arrests occurred during a swearing-in ceremony for new Students’ Union executives, as protesters voiced their opposition to the fee hike. The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) had previously denounced the “outrageous” fee increase, which ranges from N230,000 to N412,000 for the 2023/2024 academic session, citing financial burdens on families already struggling with economic challenges.
Human rights group, the Take It Back Movement, has condemned the arrests and demanded the immediate release of the detainees.”