A parent, who spoke under condition of anonymity on Monday, claimed that available information from students indicated that it was a cult group recruited from an unnamed polytechnic by a sister-in-law to the ABUAD’s founder, Chief Afe Babalola (SAN), that carried out the riot.
While an earlier account had said a policeman sparked off the protest when he fired a shot at a student during an argument, the school management had claimed it was orchestrated by students who were not doing well academically.
The parent who spoke with our correspondent claimed that the unnamed sister-in-law had a problem with Mrs. Afe Babalola. He also bemoaned the harsh treatment the arrested students were being allegedly subjected to by the authorities.
“But now a lot of innocent students have been arrested. It is a bailable offence but Chief Afe is using legal technicalities to keep them in jail under terrible conditions. My nephew is asthmatic, they did not contact parents. Obviously not all are guilty. A student slumped already while many are dehydrated. A lot of parents are abroad and they were not contacted,” the parent said.
But the university’s authorities have described the allegations “as baseless and The cause of the riot that took place in Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, last week’s Sunday is still unclear.
In an interview with our correspondent, the Head, Corporate Affairs of ABUAD, Mr. Tunde Olofintila, said, “We don’t have power to arrest, that is for law enforcement agencies to do. When crimes are committed it is the exclusive right of the police to make arrest and those found not culpable are freed while those indicted are
prosecuted.
“The arrested students are in the custody of the relevant agency but we are not aware that any of them slumped. It is the police that are prosecuting, not the university.
So, we cannot prepare any charge or decide for the court.” On the allegation that a sister-in-law to Babalola sponsored the crisis, Olofintila said, “It is strange to us. They should name the so-called sister-in-law.”
He also denied that students from another institution were responsible for the crisis and that parents were not contacted.
“To the best of my knowledge, all the students arrested are from thisuniversity, there was no foreign student. Some parents were contacted and the students themselves contacted their parents. As we speak, some of the parents are with Baba.”
Meanwhile, the university has set up a panel to investigate the remote and immediate causes of the unrest embarked upon by about 200 students of the university during which property worth N120.5m were destroyed.
The university has called for written memoranda and containing suggestions and these are to be submitted to the panel on or before Friday, February 19.
According to a statement by the Acting Director, Information and Communication Technology, Mr. Bayo Ogundipe, the sole investigator is Mr. Tuyi Bello, a security consultant and a former Chief Security Officer, University of Ibadan.
“We seize this opportunity to thank the parents of the responsible 5,800 students who did not participate in the unprovoked and grossly unnecessary act of vandalism,” the statement added.
In the mayhem, the students attacked two cafeterias, the Owolabi Hall, the Talents Discovery Building and the College of Engineering Building.
Twenty-two students of the institution are currently in prison custody for an alleged attempt to rob a branch of Wema Bank in the institution.
The police alleged that the students on February 7 unlawfully committed the offence of arson by burning houses belonging to ABUAD University security staff and burglary of a boutique belonging to the wife of the ABUAD Founder.
The alleged offences contravene Section 443(a), 411(2) and 403 of the criminal code, Cap C 16, Laws of Ekiti State of Nigeria, 2016.concocted lies.”
Culled from www.abuad.edu.ng
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