NANS debunks claims of harassment, intimidation of journalist in Ogun
The leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) Ogun State Joint Campus Committee, has debunked claims of harassment and intimidation of Olajide Osoba by the Special Assistant to the Ogun State Governor on Student Affairs, Comrade Azeez Adeyemi. The student body, therefore, faulted the declaration of a persona non grata […]
The leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) Ogun State Joint Campus Committee, has debunked claims of harassment and intimidation of Olajide Osoba by the Special Assistant to the Ogun State Governor on Student Affairs, Comrade Azeez Adeyemi.
The student body, therefore, faulted the declaration of a persona non grata against Adeyemi and blacklisting the coverage of NANS activities in the state by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Ogun State Council.
The decision, according to the Ogun NUJ in a statement jointly signed by its Chairman and Secretary, Wale Olanrewaju and Bunmi Adigun, respectively, was to protest what they termed as “harassment and intimidation” against a journalist and member of the Union, Olajide Osoba, by the Special Assistant.
The statement had alleged that Adeyemi laid a siege to the Iwe Irohin Secretariat of Ogun NUJ, using police operatives and members of NANS in an attempt to whisk Osoba away, which NANS said is false and an attempt to paint the SA and NANS in bad light.
Chairman, Ogun NANS, Gabriel Abiola Francis, in a statement on Tuesday, said for the record, neither did Adeyemi nor NANS members laid ambush for Osoba at Iwe Irohin as alleged by the NUJ, rather, police operatives were there last week to do their constitutional duty.
It said Adeyemi had reported a case of false allegation made against him by Osoba at the police station, hence, his invitation by the police.
It would be recalled that Osoba alleged that some students and members of NANS in the state, at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Abeokuta, during the May Day Celebration, attacked and physically assaulted him.
He specifically claimed that Adeyemi ordered his boys to beat him up.
“It is shameful that the supposed victim, up till this moment, cannot substantiate his claim. Instead of providing concrete evidence, he began a campaign of calumny and spreading lies. Unfortunately, some disgruntled elements, perhaps out of malice and ill will, started to help him ventilate his myopic idea,” it said.
The student body asked that the state governor should not be dragged into the matter, insisting that, “Adeyemi is an individual who has a right under the law of the land to sue and be sued. This is his own fight and not that of the state governor or government”.