Hell was let loose yesterday Wednesday, November 1st amidst the Obafemi Awolowo University Students Community as the officials of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) invaded students hostels in Oduduwa Estate, Ile-Ife following actionable intelligence on their suspected involvement in fraudulent-related activities. The invasion by the Men of the EFCC led to the  unlawful arrest of 69 students who were labeled as internet fraudsters according to what was posted on the agency website and social media pages.

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However, coming from the perspective of the Nigeria constitution, the presumption of innocence in criminal cases that one is considered innocent until proven guilty. This basically means that until a judicial pronouncement on the guilt or otherwise the accused person is made, he/she is to be treated the same as a regular person; any suggestions to the opposite would be a breach of the Fundamental Human Rights Of the individual.

The Nigerian 1999 Constitution in Section 36(5) guarantees this right. The practicalities of what this means for an individual if charged with a crime under Nigeria law, is that if any reason you are discriminated against because of the fact that you are facing a court case, then you can sue for breach of Fundamental Human Rights.

They were not pronounced guilty by any competent court of law and so publishing their names without legal claim is unconstitutional, illegal and amounts to gross defamation of character.

Even though they didn’t include the time of the operation in the release on their official X handle, some residents in Oduduwa Estate disclosed that it happened around 2am which made them think they were armed robbers at first. Perhaps, these acclaimed suspects are students of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, a renowned citadel of learning entrusted with upholding morals and culture which also houses many intellectuals.

In another release, though now deleted, made by the EFCC on their official X handle, they published the names of the suspects. Among the suspects was a winner at the University Project Exhibition for the Digital Nigeria Day (DND) hosted by the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, Osun state on 23rd & 24th October, 2023. Also, medical students and some students who have skills like photography, content writing, software developing, app developing, etc to enable them fend for themselves and help project the nation to a top place amongst other nations.

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The hearing of this shocking news made the students union swing into action by traveling down to the EFCC office in Ibadan demanding the release of these innocent students. After much agitation, 58 students out of 68 were released that same day just because there was no evidence to prove they were Fraudsters.

Do We Say They Mistook Such Large Number Of Students s Fraudsters?

In the words of the EFCC Spokesman during an interview by the Great Ife student, he said they raided at that time (around 2am) simply because that is when fraudsters operate; do we say OAU students who stay awake to study or learn online and even walk around campus freely around 2am are most likely to be fraudsters?

At this juncture, I’d like to give kudos to the EFCC Chairman, Mr Ola Olukoyede, who on their official X handle disclosed that sting operations at night time be stopped in all the commands of the EFCC.

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Finally, since it is unequivocally clear that these students are not fraudsters after their names were published as criminals already even without investigation, I would want to solicit that their names are vindicated by pulling down of the reports on the EFCC official website and social media pages and also, a rejoinder be written by the agency to maintain the integrity they have been compounding and never to make them depressed thereby causing another disastrous occurrence for both now and future purposes.