ObiChiz08:




Mehn! So touching.
And the culprits are freely roaming about every nook & cranny of this damn country

I'm so sure some of them are politicians now, ruling us.

Hearing this for the 1st tym and is so touching, RIP 2 d dead

Africa lives on..... Iwilade!!!!!!

Of the greatest IFE!!! Where I learnt that people can be free.
You could walk alone in the dead of the night around the whole campus, as big as a small town.

R.I.P to them all as their memory lives on.

I was writing my Junior WAEC @ dt time in Iwo when a lot of OAU students came into d town to bury their colleague 'Afrika', his parents stay in Iwo. Though our principal narrated d story 2 us briefly but we ddnt get d gist not until i gained admission into OAU in 2003, we were told d full story by d SUG members during our orientation program, Theatre Arts students even acted it out, such a touching story. RIP to d dead

The cult attack was a retaliation for an incident that had occurred some months earlier , when some cult members were apprehended at the staff quarters having harassed some students in front of Mozambique hall (a female hostel ) in the early hours of one Sunday morning like that . The cultists , about 10 of them were given maximum shi-shi as was the norm . Few weeks after ,the school was closed down (and i think all tertiary institutions ) because NANS had threatened to disrupt Nigeria 99 , (under 20 world cup that Nigeria hosted ) primarily to press for the re-reinstatement of Tony Fash former SU president of OAU.

When school was re-opened after Nigeria 99 , the crack that existed within the ranks of the SUG had deepened , there were accusations and counter accusations , i think from the Faro faction , that NANS sold out and collected money from the Govt , so that there wasn't a disruption of the tournament.
If not for the crack within the ranks of the SUG it would have been difficult for that incident to take place , cos there were enough evidence to suggest that something was going to happen and nobody took action, i remember even when school was re-opened we had rumors that cultist were planing an attack , and they were going to strike during exam period . On the day of the incident there were too many suspicious movements , funny plate numbers and the fact that Kegites were having gyration did not help matters at all . This was a SU, an Awo hall that would have mobilized and reacted over the slightest hint of suspicious movement . Yet nobody made a move until the cultists struck around after 4 in the morning . Everybody was caught off guard . There was a story that Faro (PRO) , tried to wake Africa up from sleep, ( Africa had left the kegites gyration and retired to his room , with Tunde Oke after taking some holy water i guess ) ran through the bush path from Faj to Awo hall , woke Africa up , but because of the holy water he had taken , Africa would not follow him . The story then was that Africa told Faro that they'll deal with it in the morning . So Faro left and ran for his own life. The cultists killed Africa and Tunde on their beds . Later Faro was accused of not doing enough to wake Africa up and then there was another counter accusation from Faro that Legacy , the SUG president was complacent in the whole matter . I really do not think Omole (the VC ) new anything about the attack , although Efosa , one of the prime suspects that was caught in the aftermath , did mention Omole's name , he later said in an interview that he only said that as he knew that was the only thing that will make them spare his life . Of course Omole was enemy number one within the whole university community , so everybody wanted him out and it was that event that led to his removal as VC . Efosa's case dragged and dragged as far as the Burkina presidency (that i know of, as i was in school till then ), OAU students were always going to court whenever the case was for hearing . I am not sure what eventually happened to the guy . The cultist that attacked were believed to have been selected from various tertiary institutions in the country then and they were apparently led by the ones from OAU that were caught earlier .

tobloj:
I wonder when hearing alone became sufficient to start spewing trash from your slackened opening you call mouth. Wen did omole become pro chancellor at lautech??

dumb, i didn't open my mouth.

OAU July-10-1999 Massacre {AFRIKA}

The Obafemi Awolowo University massacre was a series of shootings and murders which took place against students of Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria on Saturday, July 10, 1999. It resulted in the deaths of eight people and injuring of 11, all of them students at OAU.

It was perpetrated by an organized death squad of 40 members of the Confraternity branch at the university. They invaded the Awolowo Hall of the university at around 4:30 A.M., clad in black trousers and black T-shirts, their faces hidden by masks; they carried and made use of shotguns and hatchets against students.

List of victims
•Died
George Akinyemi Iwilade,AFRIKA (secretary-general of the students’ union and founder of the AFRIKA
FORWARD MOVEMENT, AFORM; shot in the head on his bed, then smashed on the head by an axe wielded by one of the members)

•Tunde Oke (a 21-year old student activist and member of Democratic Socialist Movement, DSM, the Nigerian section of CWI).

•Eviano Ekelemu

•Efe Godspower Ekpede

•Yemi Ajiteru

Injured
several people were injured directly and indirectly from the ensuing confusion and stampede.

At around 4 p.m., Lanre Adeleke, the president of the students’ union, called an assembly of the students’ union members in Oduduwa Hall; he then demanded for Vice-Chancellor Wole Omole’s resignation due to Omole’s past impeding of the union’s anti-cult activities. A N10,000 reward was placed by the union for Omole’s capture, resulting in a student takeover of the entire campus and the kidnapping and ransoming of Omole’s wife, who was on her way to church on the following Sunday, July 11th.[1]

Students also erected roadblocks at the university entrances, impounded vehicles and launched vigilante searches to flush out the killers. After raiding a local police station to regain a suspect that they had turned over to the police after fears of police leniency surfaced, a suspect named Frank Idahosa Efosa admitted that he had overheard Omole being referred to as the “patron” of the Black Axes and also overheard that Omole had offered a large bounty for the deaths of the student union leaders.[1]

By July 14th, the Nigerian Universities Commission, headed by education minister Tunde Adeniran, recalled Omole from his position of Vice-Chancellor, and a multi-million naira investigation to uproot the confraternities was launched through the Nigerian university system; the Olusegun Obasanjo government, on the 15th, ordered police to patrol the university campuses.

The day before the funeral, Adeniran addressed a student union rally on the matter of the reinstatement of expelled students. Also, over N45,000 was raised by the student union, 30,000 of which went to the organization of the funeral.

Funeral
four of the “July 10th martyrs” were buried on July 20th, 1999, at university cemetery. Around 20,000 people attended the funeral, including students from various institutions, workers, lecturers, parents, market women, and journalists from throughout Nigeria. A local woman donated the five coffins for the dead. The people that turned out thereafter proceeded in a long convoy of buses and cars to Iwo, the hometown town of George Akinyemi Iwilade(AFRIKA), late secretary general of the student union and founder of the Afrika Forward Movement(AFORM), a socio-political organization promoting African culture and values.Afrika was laid to rest on the family,s land in an emotional and befitting atmosphere. July 10th every year is marked by AFORM and the students of OAU in remembrance of these martyrs.

Two other injured victims later died in hospital, and their funerals were held separately.

http://oaugossiper./2013/07/10/oau-july-10-1999-massacre-afrika/

seanswitch: "On Saturday, 7 March 1999, a group of members held a meeting in Ife town. After the meeting, they drove back to the campus. On the main road, Road 1, leading into the campus, they were overtaken by some students in another car. For whatever reason, they were enraged and gave chase to the students. The students, seeing them in pursuit, raced hastily to the car park outside Angola Hall and ran into the adjacent Awolowo Hall for safety. The Students’ Union, which had also received information that secret cult members were gathering in a house in the senior staff quarters, mobilised in response to the incident. Led by George Iwilade, the Secretary-General, a group of them drove to the house, officially occupied by Mr. F.M. Mekoma, and forced their way into the boys’ quarters. They found nine individuals inside, eight of them students of the University, with a submachine gun, a locally manufactured gun, an axe, a bayonet and the black clothing and regalia of the cult. The University authorities were informed, and the members of the secret cult were handed over to the Police. They were held in police custody and taken to the Chief Magistrate’s Court where two weeks later they were granted bail.

The case was heard on 31 March, and to the utmost amazement of everyone, the Chief Magistrate discharged and acquitted the arrested individuals. The students who had apprehended the cult members were not called as witnesses. The investigating police officer, Corporal Femi Adewoye, claimed that the witnesses could not be located and actually stated in Court, “I tried to contact the complainants in this case, all to no avail. To date, there is no complainant in the case. Since all the accused persons denied the allegations against them and there is no complainant, there is no way the allegations can be proved.” This was the submission of the prosecuting police officer! Usually, in such cases, witness’ summons were served through the University Administration but this did not happen. The trial was concluded in two court appearances in eight days.

The Chief Magistrate also ordered that the submachine gun be sent to the police armourer and the other exhibits be destroyed, thus eliminating all the evidence, and making it impossible to re-open the case. The Judicial Enquiry recommended that the Magistrate be reported to the Judicial Commission for appropriate disciplinary action. Nothing came of this, as nothing came of all the other recommendations of that Panel.

After the arrests of the cult members, the University, under pressure from the students, issued a release suspending them without serving them with letters of suspension. Shortly afterwards, the University was closed as a result of a student crisis. When it re-opened three months later, the cult members returned to the campus and were seen attending lectures. The students raised an alarm once more. In response to this, the University issued a release on 2 July re-affirming the suspensions of the cult members. The letters of suspension were dated 8 July and it is doubtful whether those affected actually received them before the tragic events two days later. Even then, one of the students, Bruno Arinze, was left out. I eventually suspended him on 23 July.

The cult involved in the episode of 7 March was the . Four major reasons have been advanced as to the genesis leading to the mayhem on 10 July. One, to which I subscribe, was that the was avenging the humiliating treatment of its members by the Student Union leaders in March 1999.

On the night of 9 July 1999, the Kegites, members of the Palm Wine Drinkers’ Club, held a “gyration” (party) in the cafeteria of Awolowo Hall. The party was in full swing, when, at around 3.30am (now 10 July), a group of masked individuals, wearing black clothing, drove through the main gate and proceeded to the car park next to the Tennis Courts in the Sports Centre. They disembarked there and went on foot along a bush path to Awolowo Hall, where they violently interrupted the gyration, firing guns and also wielding axes and cutlasses. The group was probably all young men, although there is a persistent story of at least one woman among them. Some of the partygoers were shot, though none of them was killed. The partygoers ran for their lives, a few actually throwing themselves through glass doors.

A group of the gunmen chased the partygoers as far as Mozambique Hall. Other groups proceeded to the rooms. They first entered Room 184, where they shot and killed Efe Ekede, a Part II Psychology student. In Room 230, they shot Charles Ita, a Part II Law student. A group of the attackers then shot Yemi Ajiteru, a Part II Religious Studies student, through the head in the corridor outside the Kegites’ headquarters. In Room 273, they found George Iwilade (Afrika), the Secretary-General of the Students’ Union and a Law student, and shot him through the head, along with another occupant, Tunde Oke, a Part 1 student of Philosophy, who was shot in the abdomen. When the attackers got to Room 271, the room allocated to the suspended Students’ Union President, Lanre Adeleke (Legacy), they found that he had escaped. Legacy was in his room when he heard the first gun shots. He hurriedly went to his door, looked out, and saw two of the attackers on the next floor, firing shots. He ran back into his room and broke through the partition of the kitchenette into the next room’s kitchenette. He heard them shouting, “Legacy, come out!” and escaped into the next room. During the course of the incident, the attackers also shouted the names of “Afrika”, George Iwilade, and “Dexter”, the Chief of the Kegites, demanding that they come out.

The band of thugs proceeded to Fajuyi Hall on foot, where they shot and killed one more student. That individual, Eviano Ekelemo, a medical student, was certainly not a student activist, but they shot him anyway. The murderers left Fajuyi Hall on foot and went through the bush path behind the Hall back to their vehicles. They drove to the Students’ Union building, which they ransacked. They returned to their vehicles and drove out of the University through the main gate. The security staff, having heard gunfire, fled for their lives. Thus the exit of the marauding thugs was unchallenged.

The students with gunshot wounds were taken to the Health Centre and from there to the Teaching Hospital. Tunde Oke was still alive but died on the operating table. Four others, George Iwilade, Yemi Ajiteru, Efe Ekede and Eviano Ekelemu, were brought in dead. Eviano Ekelemu bled to death from gunshot wounds to the groin and thigh. The other three died from gunshot wounds to the head. In each case, the weapons used were shotguns, fired at close range. Charles Ita and five others who were shot in the Awolowo Hall cafeteria, survived. Twenty-five others received minor injuries, which were sustained during the stampede out of the Awolowo Hall cafeteria and later on during the attack.

In the aftermath of the attack, the whole university was enveloped in fear and there was chaos in the halls of residence. However, within a short time, the President of the Students’ Union, Lanre Adeleke, was able to restore order and mobilise his colleagues. The students went to the town searching for the perpetrators in locations where cult members were thought to be living. They “arrested” three individuals and brought them back to Awolowo Hall. These were Aisekhaghe Aikhile, a Part I student of Agricultural Economics, Emeka Ojuagu, and Frank Idahosa (Efosa). Efosa and Ojuagu were arrested in a public transport vehicle that was about to leave Ife.

The students exhibited black clothing, two berets and two T-shirts, that had been found in Ojuagu’s bag, which was claimed to be the uniform. Efosa was a known member of the . He had been expelled from the University of Benin and was later admitted for a diploma programme in Local Government Studies in Ife. The three of them were savagely beaten and tortured in the Awolowo Hall “Coffee Room”, the traditional venue for such events. The inverted commas have been employed because coffee had not been known to be served there for many years. Efosa and Oguagu are said to have confessed to participating in the attacks during their “interrogation”, and Efosa is said to have gone further to state that the attack was organised to avenge the humiliating treatment of the members who had been arrested in Mr. Mekoma’s house on 7 March.

In the course of the interrogation, Aisekhaghe Aikhile died, and his body was taken to the hospital mortuary. The interrogations also yielded the information that 22 members were involved, six from the University, four from the University of Lagos, four from the University of Ibadan, and eight from the University of Calabar. There was also a separate claim that more students from the University of Benin were also involved.

The VC, Professor Wale Omole, had been out of the country on 10 July 1999, the day of the attack and in his absence, the Deputy VC (Academic), Professor A.E. Akingbohungbe, was in charge. Soon after his arrival, the VC was summoned to Abuja to give a report of the incident the day after he returned to campus. On 14 July, his suspension was announced by the Government. It was against this background that I was tracked to the UK and summoned to return immediately and assume duty as the acting VC of the University.

When I arrived on the campus on 18 July, I promised the students and the rest of the university community, that the university would do everything in its power to bring the perpetrators to justice. I took this undertaking extremely seriously.

The first step was to visit the Commissioner of Police, Mr. J.C. Nwoye, in Osogbo. I raised the issue of the nine individuals who had been arrested in March and discharged by the Chief Magistrate. He promised that a vigorous and thorough investigation was in progress on the matter. He then expressed concern that the University authorities had not officially reported the murders to the Police despite repeated requests. On my return to the University, I wrote the required letter, once more indicating our strong fears concerning a connection between the March episode and the murders, and requesting that the nine individuals involved be re-arrested.

A total of 12 individuals were arrested and charged to court over the three weeks following the murders, including Efosa and Ojuagu. Only one of those involved in the March episode was among those arrested. The other eight could not be located. Two of them had obtained their transcripts and resumed their studies in France. The students brought information on the whereabouts of a major suspect, Babatunde Kazeem (Kato), and we provided a vehicle so that the Police could go with the students to the address in Lagos and arrest him. Kato was a former student who had been “advised to withdraw” from the University as a result of academic failure. He had been apprehended by the Students’ Union in August 1997 when he admitted to being a secret cult member. He was subsequently handed over to the Security Department, but there is no record of what happened after that. We also provided the Police with information on three other individuals, “Innocent”, “Yuletide” and “Ogbume.” Sadly, nothing came of this, even though we provided Ogbume’s address in Victoria Garden City, Lagos. The arrested persons were charged to the Ile-Ife Magistrate’s court for the murders.

The Judicial Commission of Enquiry was eventually inaugurated in Abuja on 18 October, but did not start work until 24 November, and eventually arrived in the University on Sunday, 28 November. The Chairman was Justice Okoi Itam. There were six other members, including Professor Jadesola Akande, an experienced and highly respected academic and university administrator, and Ray Ekpu, the journalist. Ms. Turi Akerele was later deployed as legal counsel to the Commission. A flamboyant but highly capable alumnus, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, led a team representing the students.

The Commission’s report was submitted in February 2000 and was released, along with the Government’s white paper, later that year. The Commission expressed its strong belief that seven named individuals had participated in the killings—Frank Idahosa (Efosa), Didi Yuletide, Kazeem Bello (Kato), and four individuals who were identified only by their nicknames or Christian names—Innocent, Athanasius, “Ochuko”, and “Chunk.” The last was identified as the then head of the secret cult. The Commission also recommended the investigation of 16 other individuals, including Emeka Oguaju and the nine involved in the 7 March episode. The Panel criticised the police investigation of the case and recommended that the Inspector-General of Police should set up a special task force to take it over. I have already mentioned the recommendations concerning the Chief Magistrate who hastily tried and acquitted the 7 March culprits, as well as Efosa’s lawyer.

It took me several months, and a number of visits to Abuja, to obtain the Commission’s report and the White Paper. Dissatisfied with the progress of the court cases, and armed with the report, I visited the Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Bola Ige. After I had expressed my concerns over the case and highlighted the Commission’s recommendations concerning its investigation, he assured me that, although the case was being prosecuted by the Osun State Attorney-General’s office, his Ministry would work with that office. He sent for the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Musiliu Smith, who agreed that he would immediately establish the recommended special task force. This he did, and a senior police officer, ACP Tonye Ibitibituwa, soon arrived in Osogbo with a team. However, in spite of the efforts of this task force, no further arrests were made. We also liaised with the Osun State Attorney-General, who assured us that his office was seriously following up the case. I must say that he did personally prosecute the case.

As I have stated, the cases against those charged in the Chief Magistrate’s Court for belonging to an illegal organisation eventually came to nothing. However, we were very hopeful of a successful prosecution of the murder cases against Efosa and company. The case in the Osogbo High Court, which commenced on 9 April 2001, wound on. Evidence for the prosecution was taken from a number of students and some other witnesses. There was adjournment after adjournment. In mid-2002, the Judge hearing the case was transferred to Iwo, and the case along with it. There was a further delay while the exhibits were also subsequently taken to Iwo. To the amazement of everyone, the Judge upheld a “No Case” submission by the defence on 5 November 2002. The three accused persons were released and they subsequently disappeared…

Accounts of the VC that was appointed after the then VC got suspended . Give credit to whom it is due bro

dejt4u:
professor Wale Omole is his name.. He is now the Pro-chancellor of Lautech

he's the elder brother of Prof Bamitale Omo-ale radarada, who increase the school fee

harlos: That year, I was in primary 5.

Knew/heard nothing

Small pikin like you I was in ss1 at the time o Never heard of this event too so sad may they rest in peace and somehow may justice be served . Omo many people for this NL don tey o! See as I dey read I was there! He was my colleague etc? Make I sha mind how I dey quote people from now on dem fit be my papa mate sef

seanswitch: "On Saturday, 7 March 1999, a group of members held a meeting in Ife town. After the meeting, they drove back to the campus. On the main road, Road 1, leading into the campus, they were overtaken by some students in another car. For whatever reason, they were enraged and gave chase to the students. The students, seeing them in pursuit, raced hastily to the car park outside Angola Hall and ran into the adjacent Awolowo Hall for safety. The Students’ Union, which had also received information that secret cult members were gathering in a house in the senior staff quarters, mobilised in response to the incident. Led by George Iwilade, the Secretary-General, a group of them drove to the house, officially occupied by Mr. F.M. Mekoma, and forced their way into the boys’ quarters. They found nine individuals inside, eight of them students of the University, with a submachine gun, a locally manufactured gun, an axe, a bayonet and the black clothing and regalia of the cult. The University authorities were informed, and the members of the secret cult were handed over to the Police. They were held in police custody and taken to the Chief Magistrate’s Court where two weeks later they were granted bail.

The case was heard on 31 March, and to the utmost amazement of everyone, the Chief Magistrate discharged and acquitted the arrested individuals. The students who had apprehended the cult members were not called as witnesses. The investigating police officer, Corporal Femi Adewoye, claimed that the witnesses could not be located and actually stated in Court, “I tried to contact the complainants in this case, all to no avail. To date, there is no complainant in the case. Since all the accused persons denied the allegations against them and there is no complainant, there is no way the allegations can be proved.” This was the submission of the prosecuting police officer! Usually, in such cases, witness’ summons were served through the University Administration but this did not happen. The trial was concluded in two court appearances in eight days.

The Chief Magistrate also ordered that the submachine gun be sent to the police armourer and the other exhibits be destroyed, thus eliminating all the evidence, and making it impossible to re-open the case. The Judicial Enquiry recommended that the Magistrate be reported to the Judicial Commission for appropriate disciplinary action. Nothing came of this, as nothing came of all the other recommendations of that Panel.

After the arrests of the cult members, the University, under pressure from the students, issued a release suspending them without serving them with letters of suspension. Shortly afterwards, the University was closed as a result of a student crisis. When it re-opened three months later, the cult members returned to the campus and were seen attending lectures. The students raised an alarm once more. In response to this, the University issued a release on 2 July re-affirming the suspensions of the cult members. The letters of suspension were dated 8 July and it is doubtful whether those affected actually received them before the tragic events two days later. Even then, one of the students, Bruno Arinze, was left out. I eventually suspended him on 23 July.

The cult involved in the episode of 7 March was the . Four major reasons have been advanced as to the genesis leading to the mayhem on 10 July. One, to which I subscribe, was that the was avenging the humiliating treatment of its members by the Student Union leaders in March 1999.

On the night of 9 July 1999, the Kegites, members of the Palm Wine Drinkers’ Club, held a “gyration” (party) in the cafeteria of Awolowo Hall. The party was in full swing, when, at around 3.30am (now 10 July), a group of masked individuals, wearing black clothing, drove through the main gate and proceeded to the car park next to the Tennis Courts in the Sports Centre. They disembarked there and went on foot along a bush path to Awolowo Hall, where they violently interrupted the gyration, firing guns and also wielding axes and cutlasses. The group was probably all young men, although there is a persistent story of at least one woman among them. Some of the partygoers were shot, though none of them was killed. The partygoers ran for their lives, a few actually throwing themselves through glass doors.

A group of the gunmen chased the partygoers as far as Mozambique Hall. Other groups proceeded to the rooms. They first entered Room 184, where they shot and killed Efe Ekede, a Part II Psychology student. In Room 230, they shot Charles Ita, a Part II Law student. A group of the attackers then shot Yemi Ajiteru, a Part II Religious Studies student, through the head in the corridor outside the Kegites’ headquarters. In Room 273, they found George Iwilade (Afrika), the Secretary-General of the Students’ Union and a Law student, and shot him through the head, along with another occupant, Tunde Oke, a Part 1 student of Philosophy, who was shot in the abdomen. When the attackers got to Room 271, the room allocated to the suspended Students’ Union President, Lanre Adeleke (Legacy), they found that he had escaped. Legacy was in his room when he heard the first gun shots. He hurriedly went to his door, looked out, and saw two of the attackers on the next floor, firing shots. He ran back into his room and broke through the partition of the kitchenette into the next room’s kitchenette. He heard them shouting, “Legacy, come out!” and escaped into the next room. During the course of the incident, the attackers also shouted the names of “Afrika”, George Iwilade, and “Dexter”, the Chief of the Kegites, demanding that they come out.

The band of thugs proceeded to Fajuyi Hall on foot, where they shot and killed one more student. That individual, Eviano Ekelemo, a medical student, was certainly not a student activist, but they shot him anyway. The murderers left Fajuyi Hall on foot and went through the bush path behind the Hall back to their vehicles. They drove to the Students’ Union building, which they ransacked. They returned to their vehicles and drove out of the University through the main gate. The security staff, having heard gunfire, fled for their lives. Thus the exit of the marauding thugs was unchallenged.

The students with gunshot wounds were taken to the Health Centre and from there to the Teaching Hospital. Tunde Oke was still alive but died on the operating table. Four others, George Iwilade, Yemi Ajiteru, Efe Ekede and Eviano Ekelemu, were brought in dead. Eviano Ekelemu bled to death from gunshot wounds to the groin and thigh. The other three died from gunshot wounds to the head. In each case, the weapons used were shotguns, fired at close range. Charles Ita and five others who were shot in the Awolowo Hall cafeteria, survived. Twenty-five others received minor injuries, which were sustained during the stampede out of the Awolowo Hall cafeteria and later on during the attack.

In the aftermath of the attack, the whole university was enveloped in fear and there was chaos in the halls of residence. However, within a short time, the President of the Students’ Union, Lanre Adeleke, was able to restore order and mobilise his colleagues. The students went to the town searching for the perpetrators in locations where cult members were thought to be living. They “arrested” three individuals and brought them back to Awolowo Hall. These were Aisekhaghe Aikhile, a Part I student of Agricultural Economics, Emeka Ojuagu, and Frank Idahosa (Efosa). Efosa and Ojuagu were arrested in a public transport vehicle that was about to leave Ife.

The students exhibited black clothing, two berets and two T-shirts, that had been found in Ojuagu’s bag, which was claimed to be the uniform. Efosa was a known member of the . He had been expelled from the University of Benin and was later admitted for a diploma programme in Local Government Studies in Ife. The three of them were savagely beaten and tortured in the Awolowo Hall “Coffee Room”, the traditional venue for such events. The inverted commas have been employed because coffee had not been known to be served there for many years. Efosa and Oguagu are said to have confessed to participating in the attacks during their “interrogation”, and Efosa is said to have gone further to state that the attack was organised to avenge the humiliating treatment of the members who had been arrested in Mr. Mekoma’s house on 7 March.

In the course of the interrogation, Aisekhaghe Aikhile died, and his body was taken to the hospital mortuary. The interrogations also yielded the information that 22 members were involved, six from the University, four from the University of Lagos, four from the University of Ibadan, and eight from the University of Calabar. There was also a separate claim that more students from the University of Benin were also involved.

The VC, Professor Wale Omole, had been out of the country on 10 July 1999, the day of the attack and in his absence, the Deputy VC (Academic), Professor A.E. Akingbohungbe, was in charge. Soon after his arrival, the VC was summoned to Abuja to give a report of the incident the day after he returned to campus. On 14 July, his suspension was announced by the Government. It was against this background that I was tracked to the UK and summoned to return immediately and assume duty as the acting VC of the University.

When I arrived on the campus on 18 July, I promised the students and the rest of the university community, that the university would do everything in its power to bring the perpetrators to justice. I took this undertaking extremely seriously.

The first step was to visit the Commissioner of Police, Mr. J.C. Nwoye, in Osogbo. I raised the issue of the nine individuals who had been arrested in March and discharged by the Chief Magistrate. He promised that a vigorous and thorough investigation was in progress on the matter. He then expressed concern that the University authorities had not officially reported the murders to the Police despite repeated requests. On my return to the University, I wrote the required letter, once more indicating our strong fears concerning a connection between the March episode and the murders, and requesting that the nine individuals involved be re-arrested.

A total of 12 individuals were arrested and charged to court over the three weeks following the murders, including Efosa and Ojuagu. Only one of those involved in the March episode was among those arrested. The other eight could not be located. Two of them had obtained their transcripts and resumed their studies in France. The students brought information on the whereabouts of a major suspect, Babatunde Kazeem (Kato), and we provided a vehicle so that the Police could go with the students to the address in Lagos and arrest him. Kato was a former student who had been “advised to withdraw” from the University as a result of academic failure. He had been apprehended by the Students’ Union in August 1997 when he admitted to being a secret cult member. He was subsequently handed over to the Security Department, but there is no record of what happened after that. We also provided the Police with information on three other individuals, “Innocent”, “Yuletide” and “Ogbume.” Sadly, nothing came of this, even though we provided Ogbume’s address in Victoria Garden City, Lagos. The arrested persons were charged to the Ile-Ife Magistrate’s court for the murders.

The Judicial Commission of Enquiry was eventually inaugurated in Abuja on 18 October, but did not start work until 24 November, and eventually arrived in the University on Sunday, 28 November. The Chairman was Justice Okoi Itam. There were six other members, including Professor Jadesola Akande, an experienced and highly respected academic and university administrator, and Ray Ekpu, the journalist. Ms. Turi Akerele was later deployed as legal counsel to the Commission. A flamboyant but highly capable alumnus, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, led a team representing the students.

The Commission’s report was submitted in February 2000 and was released, along with the Government’s white paper, later that year. The Commission expressed its strong belief that seven named individuals had participated in the killings—Frank Idahosa (Efosa), Didi Yuletide, Kazeem Bello (Kato), and four individuals who were identified only by their nicknames or Christian names—Innocent, Athanasius, “Ochuko”, and “Chunk.” The last was identified as the then head of the secret cult. The Commission also recommended the investigation of 16 other individuals, including Emeka Oguaju and the nine involved in the 7 March episode. The Panel criticised the police investigation of the case and recommended that the Inspector-General of Police should set up a special task force to take it over. I have already mentioned the recommendations concerning the Chief Magistrate who hastily tried and acquitted the 7 March culprits, as well as Efosa’s lawyer.

It took me several months, and a number of visits to Abuja, to obtain the Commission’s report and the White Paper. Dissatisfied with the progress of the court cases, and armed with the report, I visited the Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Bola Ige. After I had expressed my concerns over the case and highlighted the Commission’s recommendations concerning its investigation, he assured me that, although the case was being prosecuted by the Osun State Attorney-General’s office, his Ministry would work with that office. He sent for the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Musiliu Smith, who agreed that he would immediately establish the recommended special task force. This he did, and a senior police officer, ACP Tonye Ibitibituwa, soon arrived in Osogbo with a team. However, in spite of the efforts of this task force, no further arrests were made. We also liaised with the Osun State Attorney-General, who assured us that his office was seriously following up the case. I must say that he did personally prosecute the case.

As I have stated, the cases against those charged in the Chief Magistrate’s Court for belonging to an illegal organisation eventually came to nothing. However, we were very hopeful of a successful prosecution of the murder cases against Efosa and company. The case in the Osogbo High Court, which commenced on 9 April 2001, wound on. Evidence for the prosecution was taken from a number of students and some other witnesses. There was adjournment after adjournment. In mid-2002, the Judge hearing the case was transferred to Iwo, and the case along with it. There was a further delay while the exhibits were also subsequently taken to Iwo. To the amazement of everyone, the Judge upheld a “No Case” submission by the defence on 5 November 2002. The three accused persons were released and they subsequently disappeared…

WOW

After everything no body went to jail? God punish satan

Bigsteveg:

Be mindful of what u say, i graduated from lautech in 2012 and am still very much active, cultism is very minimal in lautech, infact, i can say dey dont exist. But when u talk abt yahoo yahoo, u can say ladokites are good @ dat.

There is nothing like yahoo yahoo in English language. It is called cybercrime.

Coldfeet: Small pikin like you I was in ss1 at the time o Never heard of this event too so sad may they rest in peace and somehow may justice be served . Omo many people for this NL don tey o! See as I dey read I was there! He was my colleague etc? Make I sha mind how I dey quote people from now on dem fit be my papa mate sef

u sef don tey

If the claim by one of the posters here that the cultists drove into the campus to the sports complex car park at 3:30AM is anything to go by, then the gate men at the main gate or the one at Road 7 would have aided them. The reason being that at night the gates are locked till 5AM.

I was in JS then ,heard the story from my uncle who came home the following day after the massacre.

To all cultists out there both those on nl: you will die miserable and go to hell! Idioots!!

Terrible

dejt4u:
professor Wale Omole is his name.. He is now the Pro-chancellor of Lautech

you mean the chief cultist

Mehn. Its my first time of hearing the story too. 1999............must av been in pry 3. Its so sad. And the accounts of the witnesses make me wish I was there and could have done something to save someone. (But I'm a first class coward. I can't even carry a skinned chicken till it has been cut into pieces). I feel for the guys that had to die.......young people in their prime.
May their souls rest in peace.

ademega: It was bad day devil take water . I was still in JSS class but brothers who were in the university told me stories and i knew what happened in other institutions concerning issue of cultists because it got to the peak at this time. The incident lead to the end of tenure for the then VC (forgotten his name now) who was accused of begin the sponsore and god father for them. I heard one of the cultists was caught and he saw hell.

In other institutions, all suspected cultists faced panel and most of them rusticated. All guys who wear a kind of rough look were adviced to stop visiting dark places and go out in odd hours. Some were picked up and beaten up in most schools .
Every year OAU dont miss the remembrance / kindle light. In actual fact that was the beginning of the end to cultism in Nigeria higher institutions. It opened the eyes of the whole world to the dangers of cultism. And now , in OAU ,u hardly see tug let alone cultist , when caught , they will teach him all the morals he missed from his childhood within hours . Even when a thief is caught in OAU he will curse the day he was born let alone a suspected cultist .

Narrate d storyline, dat is wat U read not preaching & admonition.

harlos:
u sef don tey

I swear hym ma don tey. Me finished primary 6 then.

You can say that again.

semitunde:

I'm so sure some of them are politicians now, ruling us.

#July10 #OAU
Ife Alumni*
Here we are today silent in the face of gross injustice...While some went to that same school (OAU) for 4years and some 5years or more; you graduated without for once being harassed by anyone. Yet most of you all during your stay in the school never appreciated that July 10 celebration. Most of you all compromised. Now most of you are lawyers,doctors, engineers, some have become "successful politrikian"; happy and living free from the morose "axe" of cultism you think?...No. This time around you have entered the labour market; where you will now be alone to defend and at the same time fight off the forces you all thought never existed. Now there is no collective effort to defend you;now there are no "poor Students' Union boys" to keep vigil while you are busy cruising your hard earned peanuts in your room. Whether you think I am right or not, I am of the opinion that the death of OAU 5, is just a typical show of the decay in the Nigerian political structure. I expect us to at least respect the fallen martyrs and not insult them in death... At least they have ended their race,and they indeed died for a dear struggle...we are the ones left, unsure of how we will end ours... It is better to speak once and become a true martyr,than to keep silent and remain dead to freedom #JULY 10...George Yemi Iwilade,Godspower, Sabo, Ajiteru, Eviano, you are loved...
E.A.OJOTISA Esq*

Hmmm...OAU std. Will forevr rem AFRIKA...aldo a graduate of OAU..but I was small when it happend. But am ife based so I know bou d story wella...RIP bruv

Bigwig1: Wat can I say unto d lord all I ve to say Is to tank u lord. On dis same July 10 2004,i also escaped a fatal accident at ado Ekiti unad wen goin to write post ume. Lives were lost in fact d exam was cancelled dat day. Tanks b to almighty here I am today

Thank God for your life. On this same day JULY 10 2011 Lagos and its environs (and most part of NIG) witnessed the worst rainfall ever!! Many lives were lost! Houses were submerged! Businesses crippled! Mothers searched for their children... One case still gives me the chills! Little Anthony an 18months old baby(an only child) drowned in the drains behind where his mother sells recharge cards I remember this incident so vividly because I had gone out to buy recharge card from her when they were searching for him, it wasn't long when a little girl said "see Tony for gutter!!" the poor kid obviously gave a good fight at life cos his diaper was tattered and loosed from him! He was dead. Rest in peace lil Tony! Rest in Peace Eviano (two preventable deaths). Its July 10 today baba God na Your hand we dey.

I remembered the incidence, I came to party at staff club overnight that friday and I left for UI at 5 in the morning on saturday. Only to hear later that OAU has been closed down because of cult killing. It was moremi hall , hall week party - I think.

i hardly read past the front page of every topic posted on nairaland but with this kind of story i could not help but read from the first page to the last and still reading.rip to the dead heros even in death their deeds still lives on RIP to afrika and the other students.even in death you never lost d battle as victory over cusltism is truly acertain now

LARRYDKING:

no wonder the sch is one of the leading schs with high cultism activities.

Says who?Where is your source

Narrate your story...
Ok!
I was there in Ife when it happened. Moz hall (the jambite hall then).

Escaped running into the cultists by the skin of my teeth. I entered moz like 15mins before they burst into Awo, which I passed through on my way.

I had gone for a prayer vigil at sports centre, left at about 4am or so, headed for Moz hall.
There was a kegite parry going on at awo reading room. Passed by them.

Was hungry, so I went to the aluta market beside of moz and awo hall to buy "risky burger" (bread and eggs).
Entered Moz, my room was O5 which was d first block from the gate.

Had just eaten sleepily and climbed onto my bunk when we heard sporadic gunshots. A few mins later and pounding on our door...3 panicky male voices said to pls open up, they were Awo boys and cultists were in Awo!!

We opened up and the terrified boys (from the kegite party) ran in.
We heard a female voice yelling..the babe they planted in front of Moz, with a machine gun, shouting that if they born our fathers well, we should come out.
I was in O5..few mtrs from d gate, middle room on the bugalow block.. so me and my roomies heard her clearly.

It was a terrifying time.
The following morning they had to carry Afrika to health centre scooped up in his mattress because his brains were all scattered over the mattress.

The entire school was petrified.

You guys must understand; student union back then was a really big deal, and the OAU student union back then was one which every school envied.
Cultists FEARED those guys. I mean FEARED.
If you were a cultist, and u hear say awon omo awo don hia say u be cultist, na you go advise yasef, pack ya kaya, dialogue with ya legs and run for it.

They had a room then called "maximum shi-shi room" or some such thing, where they would beat those boys to within an inch of their lives, parade them NAKED round school, then hand them over to the police. And they would make sure you were rusticated.

So basically OAU was beautiful...very safe; anyone could wake up at 2am and go to anywhere on campus..to read, go see babe, take a stroll, whatever.

And OAU is really BIG, so you can imagine...the only thing wey you fit fear na ghost ..and if you carry ya k-keg go spider house go meet "awon iwin tonkere village", na u sabi!!

We simply didn't have any cult wahala, as it were.

A few weeks (maybe a coupla months) before the incident (I'm simply remembering as I write), they caught some guys and paraded them round school naked.
I remember my roomie had a toaster amongst them.

They were bounced from school...and then one day I saw Biggie on campus..just quietly walking. The babe I was walking with recognized him and said "wetin dis guy dey find, how e take enta compound sef?" She said she didn't like the looks of it...we forgot about it until the unfortunate incident.

Mehn...for weeks after that nobody gree go class for night go read...we were petrified...and later some fool would come to ODLT basement (a popular reading room) and set off banger, and people would nearly injure themselves trying to get outta the place . . Until awo boys "shi-ed" a couple of them and then they stopped.

Anyways that's my own memory...a horrible incident indeed!!

Student union was da bomb in those days...na real government for the people! I wonder if its still same!

I wasted 4 years of my life as a cultist;if only i knew what i know now;i wont have gone that way;but in all i give thanks to God 4 sparing my life amidst everything..The cult boys of yesterday are now the political leaders of today,Our politics has been hijacked by former campus thugs.Now cults fight for political relevance on the political sphere rather than on campuses because there’s more money there...

I was in SSS2 then, but gained admission into Ife 2 years later.

Won tun ti de o