Leadership of National Association Of Nigerian Students (NANS) JCC/Ogun Axis has distant itself from various allegations raised against the Ogun State Police Command, Commissioner of Police, CP Lanre Bankole.
The association noted the release made public and signed by a known serial impostor and political tool under the guise of NANS South-West Deputy Coordinator did not emanate from them.
NANS stated this in a statement jointly signed by its Chairman, Comrade Damilola Simeon Kehinde and Public Relations Officer, Comrade Olufemi Owoeye on Wednesday, and made available to journalists in Abeokuta.
Noting that was why they have to denounce the subtle and obvious threats, defamatory statements and uncultured utterances credited to one Oladimeji Uthman.
They added that the opinion and spurious allegations raised does not reflect the true stance of the Nigerian students as they do not even represent the Nigerian students in the first instance and therefore distant themselves from the defamatory statement.
“We enjoin the Nigeria Police Force, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission and the general public to disregard the statement as it is not from the leadership of Nigerian students. The said person behind the statement up till now has not even visited the victim.
“We have been actively seeking for the emancipation of our Comrade, Olawale Balogun who was arrested on Saturday alongside some hoodlums.
“From Saturday till now, we have engaged different stakeholders and officials in fact-finding missions. This is needed so we can fully understand the issue. It is common knowledge that the Nigerian students movement is non-political and must remain so, to ensure the sanctity of our union.
“Albeit, we will not hesitate to wade in appropriately in solidarity with our comrades and students as the need may arise. This explains our interest in the arrest of Olawale Balogun.
“This release is not unconnected to the unfortunate arrest of a former NANS JCC Chairman, Comrade Olawale Balogun who was arrested at Ake Palace ground following tension at the venue of the parallel APC Congress on Saturday, 16th of October, 2021.
“It is on record that since Comrade Olawale Balogun have been arrested, the legitimate leadership of NANS South-West, NANS Ogun Axis and National Secretariat of NAOSS have embarked on series of investigations and fact findings in order to unveil the truth.
“We also affirm that the Students Constituency have been enjoying a good working relationship with the Nigeria Police and we desire to maintain the mutually beneficial relationship.
“We must however establish that blackmailing and threats are not part of the tools of Aluta and must remain so. This is why we will like to denounce the subtle and obvious threats, defamatory statements and uncultured utterances credited to one Oladimeji Uthman.
“The widely circulated release by hime have challenged and insulted the integrity of the Nigeria Police Force, Ogun Command and the person of CP Lanre Bankole.
“We emphatically state that we have no reason to ask for the redeployment of CP Lanre Bankole and we do not desire any compensation over a nonexistent aggrievement.
“In our bid to secure the release of the victim, we have refrained from making our various moves public due to the complicated nature of the case.
“In consonance with our stance against embroiling students unionism with politics, we therefore establish that we are against every political jobbers seeking to masquerade under the pretence of unionism.
“Even as we maintain our belief in the innocence of Comrade Olawale Balogun, we appeal to the Nigeria Police Force to ensure that due process is followed and investigation be carried out so as to ensure that the innocent is not punished,” they stated.
