After Police Arrest, My Life No Longer Safe – Student Rusticated By UNILAG Over Facebook Post

A 400-level student of the University of Lagos, who was rusticated for his post on Facebook, Olorunfemi Adeyeye, talks about some issues raised by the authorities of the varsity in a statement and his recent arrest on the premises of the university with GBENGA ADENIJI

We learnt that you were recently arrested by security operatives on the premises of the University of Lagos. What really happened?

It was a minor issue which was blown out of proportion. I and three of my friends were discussing and moving towards the school. At the small exit gate of the university’s main gate, I was exchanging a contact with one of them from my phone. We were moving at a slow pace and one of the security officers told us not to loiter in an unruly manner. I nodded at him to show my acceptance of his order and also pleaded with him to be patient with us as we were almost through with the contact exchange.

To our surprise, the officer replied by launching into a verbal attack. He called my friend unprintable names. They started exchanging words. The officer manhandled him and this left my friend with a scratch on his body. It later resulted into a heated argument and noticing the gathering of students to the scene, I and my other two friends advised that we should move to the security unit to resolve the matter amicably.

My friend was dragged to the security unit and we all went there with another officer. When we got to the unit, we were told to make a statement which we did and we learnt that the university’s chief security officer had been informed of the incident.

While giving a statement, some of the officers kept making some comments directed at me. One of them pointed at me saying, ‘‘Were you not the one who insulted the vice-chancellor? The VC has caught you.”

One of the officers also said “You do not want to graduate; you are the Sahara agent, right?” I was taken aback and wondered the link between the matter and my rustication.

What did you do next?

We were at the security unit all through waiting to be attended to but nothing happened. We started making contacts to reach the CSO to resolve the matter. We did not hear from him and we were not released. We slept at the security unit. At about 5.45am, some policemen from Sabo Police Station came to take us to the station. Our shirts were tied to each other in twos. At the station, we made a statement and we were interrogated by a police officer. He insinuated that we should give a statement that we were cult members, planning to attack the school.

We vehemently refused to make such a statement. After that, my friends were given their phones but I was not given mine. They called mine an exhibit because I took the picture of the officer manhandling my friend with it. I took the picture to have a pictorial evidence of what happened and not for any other reason as the police officer alleged.

We were later locked up in a cell. Some student leaders later arrived at the police station. At that point, we were taken to the office of the Divisional Police Officer where the matter was resolved after the intervention of the CSO.

With the incident, are you in any way scared for your life?

On ethical grounds, I know I am no longer safe. I had received a lot of advice concerning safety.

The university in a statement said you and other rusticated student leaders were not victimised because of your involvement in a protest on campus. It stated that you were found to have breached a part of the regulations in the university’s 2015-2016 student information handbook. What is your reaction to this?

It was rather disheartening that the university came out to say that. It is an untrue statement. I and other student leaders were invited to a panel. The panel was known as, ‘Special senate disciplinary committee on recent students’ protest.’

I have the letters with me and they indicated that we were rusticated for our participation in the protest. Everything I wrote in the article I posted on my Fac

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