July 10: OAU Remembers Afrika, Four Other Slain Students 25 Years After

The Obafemi Awolowo University community on Wednesday paid the annual tribute to five students of the institution killed in a cult attack lunched by death squard of the Black Axe Confraternity on July 10, 1999.

Students of the institution on this date every year gather to honour the memories of the OAU Five which included a 400-Level Law Student and the then Secretary-General of the Students' Union, George Akinyemi Iwilade, popularly called Afrika.

Others were a 400 level medical student, Eviano Ekelemu; a graduating student, Yemi Ajiteru; 100-Level Philosophy student, Babatunde Oke, and Ekpede Godfrey who were gunned down by the murderers and left several others injured.

The attack was alleged to had been sponsored by the then Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. Wale Omole in response to students leaders strong opposition to management 'anti-students' policies, an allegation the later had repeatedly denied.

In the tradition of the annual memorial, series of activities were observed by the students to pay their respect to the legacies of the fallen heroes which included an anti-cultism walk, a symposium, bonfire and candlelight procession.

At the symposium themed "The role of The Management, the Students and the People in Fighting Cultism" and attended by prominent student leaders and activists, emphasis were placed on the need to uphold the legacies of the July 10, 1999 martyrs through a renewed campaign against cultism on campus.