Obafemi Awolowo University massacre
Encyclopedia
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 Black Axe 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 shotguns and hatchets against students.
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.
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.
Two other injured victims later died in hospital, and their funerals were held separately.
movie star, Bukky Wright was produced. As usual,there was blur speculation about the relationship of the movie to the incident but these was later confirmed with the location(Obafemi Awolowo University
),cast and storyline. In the movie, Africa (the prominent victim of the incident) was represented with Ladi who was killed on campus
for his activism against cultism. Jibola, a known cultist who had been jailed upon conviction of committing such offenses in the past was granted clemency and fraudulently made the Students' Union Group president in order to facilitate latter investigations. The Vice-Chancellor alongside another lecturer was accused and convicted of being cultism kingpins,despite their ironic opposition to cultism. An automatic self-conviction of Prof. Omole aiding the incident was made at the movie's last scene.
Obafemi Awolowo University
Obafemi Awolowo University is a government-owned and -operated Nigerian university. The university is in the ancient city of Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria...
in Ile-Ife, Osun State
Osun State
Ọṣun State is an inland state in south-western Nigeria. Its capital is Osogbo. It is bounded in the north by Kwara State, in the east partly by Ekiti State and partly by Ondo State, in the south by Ogun State and in the west by Oyo State. The state's current governor is Rauf Aregbesola, who was...
, Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
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 Black Axe Confraternity
Neo Black Movement of Africa
The Neo Black Movement of Africa, also known as the Black Axe, is a Nigerian student cult and criminal organisation. The Black Axe is accused of responsibility in a series of shootings and killings, including violent confrontations with other confraternities.A representative of the Neo Black...
branch at the university. They invaded the Awolowo Hall
Awolowo Hall
Awolowo Hall is one of the Halls of Residence of Obafemi Awolowo University, it is the most populous hostel in Obafemi Awolowo University with a maximum capacity of 2,032 legal occupants . It was built in the year 1970. The hostel, used as a temporary female hostel, was named Awolowo Hall in 1972/73...
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 shotguns and hatchets against students.
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 Black Axe members)
- Tunde Oke (a 21-year old student activist and member of Democratic Socialist Movement, DSM, the Nigerian section of CWI).
- Eviano Ekelemu
- 5 others
Injured
- several people were injured directly and indirectly from the ensuing confusion and stampede.
The response
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.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.
By July 14th, the Nigerian Universities Commission
Nigerian Universities Commission
The National Universities Commission is the federal umbrella organization which oversees the administration of higher education in Nigeria....
, 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.
In movies
Since then,there have been many movies conveying a storyline as the incident. In 2005, a Nollywood movie titled 'Dugbe Dugbe',written and produced by the famous YorubaYoruba people
The Yoruba people are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. The majority of the Yoruba speak the Yoruba language...
movie star, Bukky Wright was produced. As usual,there was blur speculation about the relationship of the movie to the incident but these was later confirmed with the location(Obafemi Awolowo University
Obafemi Awolowo University
Obafemi Awolowo University is a government-owned and -operated Nigerian university. The university is in the ancient city of Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria...
),cast and storyline. In the movie, Africa (the prominent victim of the incident) was represented with Ladi who was killed on campus
Campus
A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...
for his activism against cultism. Jibola, a known cultist who had been jailed upon conviction of committing such offenses in the past was granted clemency and fraudulently made the Students' Union Group president in order to facilitate latter investigations. The Vice-Chancellor alongside another lecturer was accused and convicted of being cultism kingpins,despite their ironic opposition to cultism. An automatic self-conviction of Prof. Omole aiding the incident was made at the movie's last scene.
External links
- Arrests after Nigerian cult killings
- Eye witness
- Vice Chancellor at University in Ife (Nigeria) Directly Involved in Murder of Student Activists
- The Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ife Massacre - Open Letter to Nigerian Students II
- Students' Union Activists Murdered in Ile-Ife, Nigeria
- Student Union activists killed in Nigeria by neo-fascist death squad: Eyewitness Account
- Cops to patrol varsity campuses