In the early hours of Wednesday, Moremi Estate was thrown into panic as a gang of armed robbers invaded the premises, leaving behind a trail of fear for the residents. The assailants broke into multiple apartments, making away with numerous valuables, including laptops, mobile phones, and cash. In some cases, residents with no cash were coerced into making money transfers.
Eyewitnesses described the incident, which occurred at 1:00 Am, as horrifying, noting that residents of the Estate were abruptly awakened by the sound of forced entries and loud, violent bangs on their doors. Though no lives were lost, some residents sustained minor injuries in the chaos that ensued.
Students residing in Omolewa Hostel, located within the estate, recounted that the heavily armed men—believed to have just robbed a nearby hostel—scaled their fence and stormed the premises, demanding valuables from them forcefully.
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While speaking, some residents detailed how the intruders gained entry through the back doors after attacking nearby hostels.
“The robbers came through the back,” one of the witnesses recalled. “One of my guys was taking a bath when he heard footsteps and asked, ‘Who’s there?’ They responded aggressively, saying in Yoruba, ‘So ya were ni, egbé okunkun leleyi’ (meaning: are you crazy? Don’t you know this is a cult?). When he refused to open the door, they broke it down forcefully, stormed in, and beat him mercilessly, and he had to plead for his life out of fear.”
The witness narrated that having beaten him to a pulp, his valuables were taken along with other residents of the estate. ‘After he was beaten, his valuables were taken, and they moved to other apartments in the compound and also took away many expensive items. In this Hostel alone, we have 7 laptops and multiple phones being taken away. So, the experience was so horrifying and terrible for all of us living in this Hostel’, the resident said.
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Another witness of the incident who narrated the incident to a correspondence of ACJOAU noted that the incident was a terrifying experience. The witness stated, ‘In the early hours of the day, we suddenly heard a loud, forceful bang on the hostel gate, which was very unusual. The victim, who was in the bathroom at the time, noticed some individuals attempting to break in. He asked, “Who’s there?”, but it became clear they were targeting him. When he didn’t open the gate, they forcefully gained entry and immediately began assaulting him— he was beaten to a pulp while they also seized his phones, laptop, and other electronic devices he had.’
He further stated that, ‘I was in my room, listening to the chaos, and I was genuinely scared. From the sounds, I could feel the tension escalating. I thought to myself, “If they could do that to him, then no one is safe.” I was overwhelmed with fear because I had never witnessed anything like that in my life. What made it even more horrifying was that they were heavily armed—with guns, axes, and other dangerous weapons. They came prepared.’
When asked about the presence of vigilantes in the neighbourhood, residents revealed that security personnel are stationed only at the entrance of the estate and not within the estate itself. However, at the time of the incident, no vigilante was available—neither at the gate nor inside the estate. Residents rushed to the security post shortly after the incident to report the situation, only to find it deserted.
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One of the affected residents added that the armed robbers went through nearly all the hostels in the estate. He continued to say, ‘Not long after we left the security post, we noticed several motorcycles parked in front of an uncompleted building near the Neo Life office. We suspected those bikes might belong to the robbers. Afterwards, we visited one of the community leaders, who assured us that necessary steps would be taken.’ At the time of filing the report, the victims of the incident had all gone to the police station to report the incident.
Addressing the issue, the Chief Security Officer (CSO) of Obafemi Awolowo University, Mr. Adegboyega, confirmed that the matter has been reported to the police station at Moore. “We have reported the situation to the police station at More, and we are hopeful that the police will bring the culprits to book very soon. So, that’s all I can say,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the Welfare Director, Busari Samuel, popularly known as S&T, acknowledged the Union’s awareness of the situation. He noted that efforts have been made to mitigate the effect.