The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa, CAPPA has condemned in very strong terms what it described as the shameful victimisation and suspension of three young students by the University of Ibadan, UI in Oyo State .

Ayodele Aduwo, Mide Gbadegesin, and Nice Linus were suspended for simply holding placards that read “No To Fee Hike” during a students’ gathering last year.

In a statement issued on Wednesday by its Media and Communications Officer, Robert Egbe, CAPPA said Aduwo and Gbadegesin were suspended for four semesters after their appearance before the university’s Central Disciplinary Committee on July 14, 2025.

The organisation described their suspension as the tragic climax of a year-long campaign of intimidation and harassment by university authorities.

“These young people, despite their stellar academic records and contributions to the improvement of their academic environment, have been repeatedly arrested, assaulted, and vilified by the university management and security operatives acting on explicit orders.

“Only a few months ago, Ms. Nice Linus demonstrated her credibility when she was elected by majority votes as a legislator on the UI Student Representative Council. Rather than respecting the democratic choice of her peers, university officials revoked her mandate and forcibly removed her from the venue, citing a pending disciplinary case as justification.

“The university’s Deputy Registrar, Tijani I. Musa, who supervised the election, claimed that students with ongoing disciplinary cases cannot contest. Yet the UI Student Union Constitution clearly stipulates that only students found guilty of gross misconduct can be disqualified.

“Ms. Nice has not been found guilty of any crime but remains on trial. We have no doubt she now faces the same brutal fate as her colleagues at the hands of an unjust and highly biased panel,” CAPPA noted.

The organisation accused the university of using authoritarian tactics to stifle legitimate dissent, arguing that the suspensions violate the constitutional rights to freedom of thought and expression, as guaranteed under Sections 38 and 39 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).

“Universities are meant to be sanctuaries of free inquiry and rigorous debate. They are spaces where new ideas should bloom and where students are trained to question, to challenge, and to imagine a better society.

“The despotic decision of the University of Ibadan against these young students is a direct betrayal of its mission to nurture independent minds,” CAPPA stated.

“The backdrop to these suspensions is as sad as it is revealing. Over the past year, the University of Ibadan, like many other public tertiary institutions across the country, has turned public education into a business. School fees have soared by nearly 500 to 1,000 percent, jumping from 69,000 Naira to as high as 412,000 Naira for certain courses.

“This brutal increase has pushed students from working-class families to the edge, forcing many to abandon their dreams of higher education. At this same university, only a few months ago, reports revealed that female students are increasingly selling their eggs to fertility clinics just to generate income and, by extension, survive on campus. This shocking situation is a painful reality of how deeply exploitative and dehumanising this system has become,” said Zikora Ibeh, CAPPA’s Assistant Executive Director

“Rather than address these urgent issues,” Ibeh said, the university has chosen to “pour resources into surveillance and repression, while neglecting student welfare and its responsibility to promote a truly empowering environment for all.”

“Ayodele Aduwo, Mide Gbadegesin, and Nice Linus are not troublemakers. They are principled scholars whose only ‘crime’ is demanding a fair and humane education system. Their leadership and bravery should be celebrated, not criminalised.

Their actions embodied the highest ideals of democratic citizenship. By punishing them, the university is sending a chilling message that ‘zombieism’ is the price of staying safe,” the statement added.

CAPPA called for the immediate and unconditional reinstatement of the suspended students and held the university administration responsible for any harm and trauma they might suffer

“We call on civil society organisations, labour unions, human rights defenders, UI Alumni, and all people of conscience to rise in defence of these students and the broader principle of academic freedom.

The shrinking civic space in Nigeria cannot be ignored. Our universities must return to their fundamental mission of expanding horizons, fostering debate, and preparing young people to build a just and equitable society,” the statement noted.

The group lamented that the University of Ibadan, once seen as a bastion of intellectual courage, now appears to be tarnishing its image. “Its prestige was built by generations who stood firm against injustice and tyranny.

Today, that legacy is being dragged through the mud by administrators who fear young minds that think and speak freely,” the statement observed.

“CAPPA will continue to stand with Ayodele, Mide, and Nice. We will amplify their voices and carry their struggle to every forum possible.

“We urge every well-meaning Nigerian to rise up in condemnation of this injustice,” the statement concluded.