Two students protested against the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, during his visit to Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) on Thursday for the school’s 2025 ‘Distinguished Personality Lecture’.
The students, Oladepo Joshua and Ejike Kelechi, held placards criticising Wike’s alleged failure to compensate individuals whose houses were demolished in the FCT.
The students were seen in videos obtained on Thursday, raising placards and chanting: “Minister Wike, we demand you compensate the people whose houses you demolished.”
According to reports, security officials escorted the students out of the hall while Wike was speaking.
However, the university’s Public Relations Officer, Abiodun Olarewaju, clarified that the students were not arrested but were escorted out for their safety.
Olarewaju noted that while everyone had the right to protest, the minority should not disrupt what the majority was enjoying.
“Everybody has a right to protest, and the minority, microscopic minorities, should not disrupt what the overwhelming majority allows.
“So, they were not arrested; they were only escorted out of the Oduduwa Hall. We didn’t want the situation to escalate, because some of their colleagues were the ones who accosted them.
“You know, when about 20 students descended on two students, something could happen. So, the security operatives there just apprehended the two students, took them out of the hall,” he told Punch.
He added, “I mean, how can just two students, only two students, decide to disrupt what other students said they like? So, so that their colleagues will not beat them, or injure them, or do anything untoward, that was why our security personnel just took them out of the hall.”
