A court in Lagos has set free 13 UNILAG students who were arrested and thrown into Kirikiri prison by the police.
The UNILAG students protesting against the school have been set free
The 13 students of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), who were detained in Kirikiri Prison on the order of Special Offences Mobile Court, in Oshodi for protesting against the school management, have been set free.
The students who have been in prison since Saturday were set free on Thursday morning. They had earlier been arrested on the university campus while protesting the suspension of a visually-impaired student and demanding the reinstatement of all suspended student activists were supported by other students present at the court vicinity chanting solidarity songs before and after the court session.
The police had claimed that the students were arraigned for “riotous invasion” of Lagos-based Television Continental, TVC. But the management of the station has since denied the allegations, saying the students were peaceful in their conduct.
The counsel to the students, Inibehe Effiong, said the release was subject to Section 211 of the Nigerian constitution.
“The trumped up charges have been struck out and we salute the Lagos State Government for this,” he said.
One of the 13 students, Aina Tomi, disclosed that the students would institute a legal suit against the Lagos state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni.
“We will institute legal action against the commissioner in the next couple of days,” he said.
Earlier this week, the university management had denounced the students saying some of them had been rusticated from the school while others were not students of the institution.
Also, several groups including the National Association of Nigerian Students and Education Rights Campaign had condemned the detention of the students.