EFCC Arrests Over 70 Students in Midnight Raid Near OAU Campus

Over seventy students were reportedly taken into custody by agents of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) during a late-night raid in the vicinity of the Obafemi Awolowo University campus in Ile-Ife, Osun State. Hostels just beyond the campus limits were the site of the raid.

EFCC officials attacked the Fine Touch and Superb hostels in Oduduwa Estate, Ile-Ife, at around two in the morning. Multiple sources in Ile-Ife corroborated the occurrence. Officials used force to enter rooms during the operation in order to arrest the pupils.

The official reasons for the arrests have not been made public as of the time of publication. Abass Ojo, the president of the Students’ organization, countered that the organization was aware of “72 students picked up from the hostel with phones and cars taken away.”

Joy Abiola, a former union officer, told PUNCH correspondent that some of the students who were arrested had been physically assaulted. She voiced concerns about people being arrested merely for having cars, laptops, or iPhones.

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According to reports, some first-year students who had visited their more experienced peers were among the pupils who were arrested, and some of them were female. There are concerns among the student body regarding the operation’s timing and methodology.

In videos available online, the detained students can be seen being herded onto a white Hummer bus while security guards give them orders to hurry. In addition, a number of cars, including the white Hummer Bus, were observed traveling from the Ile-Ife region to Ibadan.

A formal statement regarding the incident would be made soon, according to Olumide Egbodofo, head of the EFCC’s Public Affairs Department, Ibadan Zonal Command.

Abiodun Olarewaju, the university’s spokeswoman, could not be reached as of the time of this report.