The leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) Ogun State Joint Campus Committee, has debunked claims of harassment and intimidation of a Olajide Osoba, by the Special Assistant to the Ogun State Governor on Student Affairs, Comrade Azeez Adeyemi.
The student body, faulted the declaration of a persona non grata against Comrade 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, Comrades Wale Olanrewaju and Bunmi Adigun, respectively, Tuesday, June 23, 2025, 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 alleged that Comrade 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. This is false and an attempt to paint the SA and NANS in bad light.
Chairman, Ogun NANS, Comrade 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.
As a law abiding citizen of Nigeria and illustrious son of Ogun State, Comrade Adeyemi, reported a case of false allegation made against him by Osoba at the police station, hence, his invitation by the police. Though, we are not lawyers, but, as educated Nigerians, we know that when you allege, then you must prove.
Also, when your constitutional rights are infringed upon, you are free to seek redress in the competent court of law.
It will 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 Comrade Adeyemi ordered his boys to beat him up, and this falsehood supervised by the Ogun NUJ was widely circulated and reported in the media.
To ascertain the truth behind the incident, Comrade Adeyemi ordered the NANS members who were at the June 12 Cultural Center to move straight to Iwe Irohin and clear themselves of the allegation. The idea behind this was to enable Osoba to identify just one of us as the culprit.
But to our surprise, however, Osoba could not identify any of us as his attacker at the event.
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.
As student leaders who have a close working relationship with journalists in the state, we know that this is not the first time Osoba will be crying wolf where there was none.
His encounter with the incumbent Chairman of Abeokuta North LG whom he falsely accused of plotting to assassinate him is still fresh in people’s memory. We reliably gathered that it took the intervention of the same leadership of the Ogun NUJ and credible individuals before the Chairman rescinded his decision to take legal action against this inveterate liar called journalist.
This is the main reason the decision of the Ogun NUJ on this matter came as a surprise to Ogun NANS, particularly, when Osoba is reputed for peddling false allegations.
We strongly believe that any serious persons or organizations should not swallow lies of Osoba hook, line and sinker, when events over time have proved him to be unserious, unreliable and unscrupulous.
What followed, however, was the announcement of a temporary blacklist on the coverage of activities of NANS in the state, ordered by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Ogun State Council.
Despite our claims that Osoba’s allegation was spurious and a feeble attempt to call the dog a bad name in order to hang it, Ogun NUJ, without a fair hearing and solid evidence, implemented the directive.
Therefore, it came to us as a surprise that a decision of that nature could be taken by the Ogun NUJ against NANS without proper and unbiased investigation, despite decades of working relationship between NANS and the NUJ.
Though not perturbed by the decision of the Ogun NUJ, NANS continued its activities in the state and got the needed media reportage.
Perhaps, the Special Assistant was not pleased with the false allegation against his person, and decided to take the matter further by reporting it to the appropriate authorities.
But, to our surprise, Ogun NUJ, rather than allowing the law to take its course, resorted to subtle blackmail by declaring the SA and NANS persona non grata. Like we said above, we are not perturbed by the use of this usual cliche by the leadership of NUJ in the state.
This same declaration was made by the Union against the administration of the incumbent administration of Governor Dapo Abiodun. Therefore, we remain unfazed and resolute. No matter the blackmail against our leader in any form, it will not deter him from seeking a redress in court to clear his name and that of NANS being smeared by the paint of falsehood by Osoba.
Meanwhile, we view it as childish, the order by the Ogun NUJ that members of NANS should not come near or enter the premises of Iwe Irohin. This order is not only laughable, but an order above the paycheck of issuers of such order.
Iwe Irohin is not only a secretariat of the Ogun NUJ, it is a public place where other businesses take place. As Nigerians, we have the right to free movement without harassment or intimidation from anyone or union.
Therefore, we will continue to patronize vendors inside Iwe Irohin premises. It should be noted that we will resist any move by anyone to harass our members within and without the premises.
