Students and staff of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) have marked the anniversary of the September 2019 protest in which two undergraduates were killed during clashes with security forces.
The demonstration, sparked by weeks of electricity shortages on campus, was initially peaceful but turned violent near the entourage of Erelu Bisi Fayemi, wife of the then-Ekiti governor, who was attending an event in Oye-Ekiti. Witnesses reported that police fired shots to disperse the crowd, leaving two students dead and several injured.
The victims were identified as Oluwaseyi Kehinde, from the university’s Ikole campus, and Joseph Okonofua, Social Director of the Faculty of Education. Videos shared on social media showed chaos as protesters fled, with some students collapsing from gunshot wounds.
In the aftermath, the university suspended the Students’ Union and ordered the campus shut. Families of the dead said they were left without institutional support.
Governor Kayode Fayemi described the killings as “a tragedy that never should have happened” and ordered a judicial inquiry. Mrs Fayemi denied claims she ordered the clampdown, insisting security agents were deployed only for her protection.
The shootings remain a source of grief in Ekiti’s academic community.
