Some workers and students of Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) today blocked police authorities from arresting the Vise Chancellor of the university, Prof. Joshua Ogunwole at his Ado-Ekiti home.
The VC had raised concern that officers had encircled his apartment in Ado-Ekiti and their mission was not known.
Members of the university community comprising academic and non-academic personnel and students, trooped to the Vise Chancellor’s mansion where they gathered in sympathy and against the purported arrest, Channels TV says.
He told journalists at his Ado-Ekiti household that the officers came to his official residence at approximately 6:10am shortly after he went to sleep at about 3am and his children woke him up when they saw the security men about the house.
The Vise Chancellor added that at first he refused to come out since he didn’t know if the men were police officers and he wanted to find out why they were there.
He said the police team later told him that they had a warrant, but said he would not leave the residence without being adequately informed of the reason of the arrest.
Ogunwole related the incident to a petition purportedly signed by several persons affiliated to the university, including the immediate past Vise Chancellor, Prof. Abayomi Fasina and a former Dean of the Faculty of Law, Dr. Kehinde Adeola.
He said the issue was about an audio tape which he claimed was leaked and that university management had called on those involved to appear before an investigating committee to explain the content.
He said the matter then went to court and he too had petitioned the Inspector-General of Police over what he regarded as threats to his life and workplace.
He claimed he had told his attorneys to contact the police to let them know the matter was before the court and that he was willing to respond to any lawful invitation.
He said he had complied with a police invitation relating to an earlier petition and arrived with his attorneys and was questioned from morning till evening before being freed on self-recognisance.
“I think the latest development could have been done by invitation instead of surrounding my residence,” Ogunwole added.
“Someone of my stature doesn’t run away anywhere. There are alternative ways to invite me rather than surrounding my house,” he said.
But the Vise Chancellor said he remained faith in the rule of law and will proceed with his administration’s objectives to reorganise the university.
“There’s no going back,” he remarked. Our objective is to give FUOYE a fresh face. No detours, no U-turns. We are determined.”.’”
Also addressing, the FUOYE chapter head of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Dr. Ojo Fagbuagun, said the union was at the residence to resist what he termed as attempts to intimidate the Vise Chancellor.
Some people who were deeply connected to the previous administration of the university, Fagbuagun said, resisted the reforms Ogunwole was bringing.
He cited irregularities by unnamed persons including “illegal promotion, abnormal promotion, mismanagement of funds” and other sorts of wrongdoing but did not provide any evidence on the charges during the interview.
He further claimed that the former Vise Chancellor, Fasina, resorted to police petitions rather than internal processes to resolve issues within the university.
The academic staff would not succumb to what he called future attempts to harass or intimidate the Vise Chancellor, said Fagbuagun.
“We are here this morning to show the entire world that our VC cannot be cowed,” he stated.
Also speaking, the chairman of the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), FUOYE chapter, Comrade Oluwashola Babafemi, said that members of the association were at the mansion to safeguard what he characterised as peace and progress being enjoyed under the present administration.
Babafemi said Ogunwole had made himself available to staff and was concerned about their wellbeing. “We do not want anything that will be capable of disrupting the present course of the university,” Babafemi added.
Comrade Emmanuel Adegun, branch secretary of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), claimed members were told that police officers had gone to the vise chancellor’s apartment and might try to take him away.
Adegun said the union resolved to mobilise to Ogunwole’s apartment to demonstrate support with him.
Also, a non-teaching staff, Victoria Adeyoju, urged a halt to what she described as attempts to intimidate the Vise Chancellor, stating staff wanted peace and good governance in the university.
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