Tears flowed freely inside the Ekiti State Judiciary premises on
Friday as a Chief Magistrate’s Court remanded 16 students of Afe
Babalola University (ABUAD), Ado Ekiti in prison custody for their roles
in the mayhem that rocked the institution last Sunday.
They are being prosecuted for attempted robbery, arson and burglary
allegedly committed during the riot that occurred on the campus of the
private university.
They were accused of attempting to rob a branch of Wema Bank located
inside the campus, setting houses of ABUAD security staff members ablaze
and burglary of a boutique belonging to the wife of the university’s
founder, Mrs. Modupe Babalola.
Parents of the remanded students broke down and wept profusely as
their children were being marched into a Toyota pick-up van belonging to
the state command of the Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS) heading for the
Federal Prisons, Ado Ekiti.
The affected students are to remain in prison custody pending an
advice from the office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).
The mother of the only female student among the accused persons amid
sobs asserted the innocence of her daughter who was said to be in her
final year at the university.
A distraught mother of one of the embattled students lamented saying:
“I have been fasting and praying, why is my child implicated in this
case? I have struggled to give him the best education, I didn’t know
this is where it would take him. My child is innocent oh!”
Reprieve, however came the way of six of the accused persons as Chief
Magistrate Adesoji Adegboye, dropped charges against them for the same
offences consequent upon an application by the police prosecutor, Samson
Osobu.
The six were among those earlier granted N300,000 bail on a six-count
charge of rioting, possession of firearms and malicious damage.
Chief Magistrate Adegboye adjourned the case to Tuesday next week for
further hearing calling on the Ministry of Justice to speed up legal
advice in order to dispose of the matter as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, the alumni association of the university has condemned the
riot that rocked the institution leading to destruction of property
worth millions of naira.
The association warned against misinformation on the social media
denying that no student was shot, raped or died during the protest.
The body praised the university’s founder, Aare Afe Babalola, for
resisting the temptation to close down the university as a result of the
crisis.
Addressing a briefing on the campus on Thursday, President of ABUAD
Alumni Association, Tope Sobajo, called on all stakeholders to join
hands with the authorities to get to the root of the crisis.
She urged parents, students and members of the public to desist from
making “spurious, inflammatory and unsubstantiated claims” urging
anybody needing any clarifications to contact the authorities and the
police.
