No fewer than six students were injured during a clash
between some students of Obafemi Awolowo
University, Ile-Ife, on Sunday evening.
While some of the eyewitnesses described the fight as
a power tussle between students, who are loyal to the
President of the Student Union, Ibikunle Isaac, and
those of Vice-President, Oladejo Olufunmi, others
described it as a cult attack.
It was learnt that the Education Rights Campaign
members had just concluded a meeting at the SU
building Television room, when the fight broke out.
Among those involved in the fight were some union
executive members, suspended students of the
university, members of the Security Committee of the
SU and ERC members.
Some of the students, who suffered varying degrees of
injuries, were rushed to the nearby hospitals for
treatment.
One of them, Tedy, was allegedly pierced with a
pointed object suspected to be a screw driver and
another, David, was dealt a matchete cut on his head.
It was gathered that the door to the SU president’s
office, where some students hid, was broken while the
occupants were thoroughly beaten, leading to the
injuries suffered by some of the students.
There are however two sides to the cause of the fight.
While some of the students said it was as a result of
ideological differences, others inferred that it was
related to the protest held during President Goodluck
Jonathan’s visit.
Jonathan, traditional rulers and some politicians were
at OAU for a supposed conference, where Jonathan
was endorsed ahead of the 2015 polls.
The campus fracas took a dangerous dimension when
students of the school engaged themselves at the
school gate with weapons.
Chief Security Officer of the university, Mr. Paul Ogidi,
said there was no cult attack in the institution.
“It is true that our students fought. There was no cults
attack on our campus. We did not witness any attack
but a fight among our students,” he said.
But the Vice-President of the Students Union, Funmi
Oladejo, insisted that what happened on the campus
could be likened to 1999 cults attack that claimed the
lives of students.
She denied the fight as being factional but hinted that
the controversy that surrounded the presence of
President Goodluck Jonathan on the university campus
last Friday contributed to the cause of the fight.
She said, “I was to have a meeting at SUB yesterday
(Sunday) around 6pm. On getting there, I met a
student, Sanyaolu Oluwajuwon, inside the gutter,
where he had been seriously beaten and I wondered
what happened. After a while, the injured students
went to show the injury to others and that enraged
many students.
“Meanwhile, what started the fight, I heard, was that
ERC was having its meeting when the President and
PRO passed through the place and saw them.
He then called his boys to start coming that some
people are having an opposition meeting at SUB and
they all came to beat those on the ground.
“After beating them up, they ran away except Teddy
that waited. We later realised that those that ran to
town went to hire ‘cults’, who came with machetes. One
of them (David) was even unconscious. We eventually
caught four of them. Two were students and two were
non-students. “
http://www.punchng.com/news/jonathans-visit-oau-
students-clash-six-injured/
When asked if the fight was connected to Jonathan’s
visit, she responded, “As far as I am concern, that is to
mess up the whole issue. They want to make it a
partisan stuff and that is out of sense. Our unionism is
known to be independent and non-partisan. So, the
case of Jonathan’s visit was sardonic. They (Ibikunle’s
faction) wanted to pay back the opposition that greeted
Jonathan’s visit and we should be a check to bad
government.”
It was learnt that the two of the arrested people
involved in the fight were taken by students to the
Awolowo Hall of the university, while the security
officials took another two students involved in the fight.
The President of the Student Union, Isaac Ibikunle, told
our correspondent that non of his loyalists were cult
members.
He promised to call back to give his ‘full reaction’ after
a meeting expected to be held between members of
the executive and parliament today (Monday).
The Public Relations Officer of the union, Oludare
Bamidele, wrote, “It remains a sardonic issue that
suspended students are beating legitimate students on
OAU campus right now. Is this intellectual struggle?
The act of dragging a security official to be beaten is an
affront to law and arrival of the hobbesian state of
nature.”
Osun State Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Sade
Odoro, said those involved in the fight were not
cultists.
She said, “OAU students truly fought and they were
taken to police station. The police counselled and
released them after a while. There is no secret cult
thing involved.”

The so-called 'students' who booed the president.
I knew there was nothing 'educated' about that act. This is further proof.
Kill yourselves and let your shadows bag the degree.