The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has condemned the victimisation and suspension of three young students, namely Ayodele Aduwo, Mide Gbadegesin, and Nice Linus, by the University of Ibadan (UI) in Oyo State 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.
It noted that over the past year, in UI, like many other public tertiary institutions across the country, school fees have soared by nearly 500 to 1,000 per cent, jumping from N69,000 to as high as N412,000 for certain courses.
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CAPPA’s Assistant Executive Director, Zikora Ibeh, noted that the 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,” he said.
The statement read: “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.