The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has condemned the University of Ibadan (UI) for suspending student activists, Ayodele Aduwo, a 400-level History undergraduate, and Mide Gbadegesin, a 700-level postgraduate student of African Studies.
The civil society organisation described the development as “shameful victimisation” and a dangerous crackdown on student voices protesting rising tuition fees.
The condemnation followed the suspension of the two students, who were handed four-semester suspensions by the university’s Central Students Disciplinary Committee (SDC) on July 14, 2025, for protesting the astronomical school fees hike.
The two students were said to have held placards that read “No To Fee Hike” during the inauguration of the Students’ Union executives in 2024.
In a statement on Wednesday by its Media and Communications Officer, Robert Egbe, CAPPA said the punishment was the culmination of a year-long campaign of harassment, arrests, and intimidation against students who dared to speak up.
“These young people, despite their stellar academic records and contributions to the improvement of their academic environment, have been repeatedly arrested, assaulted, and vilified by the university management and security operatives acting on explicit orders.
“Only a few months ago, Ms. Nice Linus demonstrated her credibility when she was elected by majority votes as a legislator on the UI Student Representative Council. Rather than respecting the democratic choice of her peers, university officials revoked her mandate and forcibly removed her from the venue, citing a pending disciplinary case as justification,” the statement read in part.
The group also condemned the treatment of another student, Nice Linus, who was elected to the Student Representative Council but was barred from assuming office due to a pending disciplinary case.
Backstory
In 2024, Aduwo and Gbadegesin, along with Linus, participated in a peaceful protest during the inauguration of the Students’ Union executives, holding placards that read “No to Fee Hike.”
According to a report by the FIJ, video footage showed that the protest was non-violent, but the university reported the act to security operatives as a cult-related disturbance.
Consequently, the students were reportedly arrested by members of Operation Burst, who later admitted to being misled by the university authorities.
In a subsequent development, FIJ reported that the university further facilitated the arrest of Aduwo by the Criminal Investigation Department at Iyaganku, Ibadan, for allegedly defying its directive for students to vacate the campus.
Earlier in 2024, The ICIR reported that the University of Ibadan management shut down the institution for three weeks and directed all students to leave campus following a protest against what students described as an astronomical hike in school fees.
Before the increment, many students were paying between N20,000 and N30,000, but following the hike, tuition fees reportedly surged to N200,000 and above.
During the protest, the students waved different placards with inscriptions such as “We Say No Tuition Hikes,” “Management Is Insensitive To Our Plights,” and “Our Parents Cannot Afford The New Hikes,” while they blocked roads leading to the school.
According to a circular dated August 30, 2024, the institution’s registrar, G. O. Saliu, directed the students to vacate the school premises by 2 pm, stating that the school would be shut for three weeks.
The decision to shut down the institution was taken at the meeting of the university’s management with the leadership of the students’ union on Friday, August 30, 2024.
Meanwhile, CAPPA said the university’s actions to suspend the students violated students’ rights to freedom of expression and thought as guaranteed by Sections 38 and 39 of Nigeria’s Constitution.
“Universities are meant to be sanctuaries of free inquiry and rigorous debate. They are spaces where new ideas should bloom and where students are trained to question, to challenge, and to imagine a better society,” CAPPA stated.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M