Youths in Ondo State on Wednesday trooped out in large numbers to protest the incarceration of youths from the Akoko axis of the state.
Among those remanded in the state are Rufus Giwa Polytechnic’s former Student Union President (SUG) James Akeju, also the President of the Akoko Youth Forum, Adediran Gabriel, and Yaya Bisola.
For several hours, the angry students shut down and barricaded the roads leading to the state secretariat, Alagbaka, and the Federal Secretariat, Igbatoro.
The student and youth leaders who mobilised their colleagues to the state capital called for the immediate release of their colleagues.
According to the protesters, the affected youths were remanded in prison custody by a court sitting in Akure, the state capital, on Tuesday following alleged political victimisation.
The youths further described the action as a gross abuse of power and a deliberate move to intimidate and silence the voices of youths in the state; they emphasised that the trio were unjustly targeted after a face-off with the attorney general on March 28, 2025.
When the Commissioner of Police, Wilfred Afolabi, arrived at the protest ground, the youths declined the CP’s plea to vacate the roads.
Instead, they brought cooking utensils to the protest grounds, insisting that the remand must be released and that they must meet them there before they vacate the protest scene.
Addressing journalists at the protest venue, the Coordinator of the Ondo State Youth Network, Adegboyega Afe, expressed dismay over the remand of the youths.
According to him, the affected youth were arraigned on frivolous charges such as threats to life and cyberbullying, among others.
Also, the National Social Director of Akoko Youth Forum, Oladimeji Adewunmi, urged Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa to call his Commissioner to order, stressing that they will not be cowed.
Meanwhile, the Technical Adviser to the state Attorney General, Yomisaint Adebayo, said the youths were arraigned following a police investigation into incidents that involve assault, conspiracy, actions aimed at breaching public peace, cybercrime, threats to life, and other related offences that occurred at the state secretariat.
