Justice Nkeonye Maha of the Federal High Court sitting in Ibadan has ordered the management of the University of Ibadan to reinstate the three suspended students.
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The affected students, Aduwo Ayodele Gbadegesin, Olamide Iyanuoluwa and Linus Nice Adaoma were suspended for staging a protest on the hike in the tuition fees.
The applicants, in a suit filed before the court described their suspension as an infringement on their fundamental human rights and, thereby, prayed the court to quash the order.
The order sought includes “A declaration that the refusal during the sittings of the 1st Respondent’s Student Disciplinary Committee and the Central Student Disciplinary Committee to allow the Applicants to call witnesses and present video footage of what transpired on 13th of May, 2024, constitutes an egregious infringement of the Applicants’ right to fair hearing guaranteed under Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.
“AN ORDER SETTING ASIDE in its entirety the 1st Respondent’s Central Student Disciplinary Committee’s decisions dated the 14th of July, 2025 to wit, rusticating the 1st and 2nd Applicants for four semesters, mandating them to write an undertaking of good behaviour, not to meddle with Student Union matters and to undergo mandatory professional counselling at the 1st Respondent’s Career Development and Counselling Centre, being decisions reached in proceedings bereft of fair hearing and natural justice.
“AN ORDER OF THE HONOURABLE COURT forthwith reinstating the Applicants’ full studentship rights and privileges within the 1st Respondent with immediate effect, to wit, attend lectures, write examinations and participate in student union activities for the advancement of their lawful interest.
“AN ORDER OF PERPETUAL INJUNCTION restraining the Respondents, whether by themselves or through their agents, from further subjecting the Applicants to the 1st Respondent’s Student Disciplinary Committee and or the Central Student Disciplinary Committee on account of the exercise of their rights to freedom of thought and expression guaranteed under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.
“The sum of N20m (twenty million naira only) damages jointly and severally against the respondents for the infringement of the applicants’ constitutionally guaranteed rights to dignity of their human person, personal liberty, fair hearing, freedom of thought, freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, freedom of movement, and freedom from discrimination guaranteed under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.
“EXEMPLARY DAMAGES of N5m (Five Million Naira Only) personally against the 2nd Respondent for flagrant disregard of the law and constitutional provisions of the cherished principles of natural justice”
Justice Maha, in her ruling, said the management infringed on the human rights of the affected students by not giving them fair hearing by the Central Disciplinary Committee.
She stated that there was no evidence of the peaceful protest of the students of the newly inaugurated Student Union Government of the institution as claimed by the respondents.
“I hereby set aside the decision of the Disciplinary Committee and order the reinstatement of the suspended students.
Lauding the Judgement of the court, the Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has commended the judiciary for quashing the unlawful rustication of University of Ibadan (UI) student activists Ayodele Aduwo and Mide Gbadegesin and for addressing the ongoing victimisation of Nice Linus, who held placards reading “No To Fee Hike” during a student gathering last year.
In a statement on Wednesday, CAPPA demanded that the varsity immediately comply with the judgment delivered by the Federal High Court, Ibadan; reinstate the students; and tender a full, unreserved apology to the trio for its deplorable conduct.
According to the organisation, the judgment strongly affirms students’ constitutional rights to freedom of thought and expression, as guaranteed under Sections 38 and 39 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).
Justice N. E. Maha, who delivered the judgment on Wednesday, referenced the students’ testimony that they were dragged out of the hall by the university’s internal security and handed them over to a waiting mob who beat them to a stupor and insulted them.
The trio were then profiled on the spot as criminals and eventually handed over to soldiers of the Operation Bust unit as dangerous cultists.
Importantly, the judge noted that the university authorities “did not deny these damning allegations.”
“The court’s decision sends an unequivocal message to the University of Ibadan and other oppressive academic institutions nationwide that tyranny and the use of authoritarian tactics to stifle legitimate dissent is unlawful, unacceptable and will not stand,” said Zikora Ibeh, CAPPA’s Assistant Executive Director.
“The university must reflect on this moment and recommit to their core mandate of fostering critical thinking and nurturing independent minds.”
CAPPA described the situation as a troubling pattern in academic institutions across the country, whereby student activism, especially against rising school fees, is increasingly met with intimidation, suspension, and institutional repression.
The group commended Ayodele, Gbadegesin and Linus “for their sacrifice and courage” in standing for their rights and urged other students across the country to draw inspiration from their victory. It also praised the diligence of lead counsel, Joseph Opute Esq., and his co-counsel O. Onifade, whose legal representation was central to securing the judgment.
The organisation expressed satisfaction in its role in the students’ triumph and pledged to continue to support oppressed students across the country.
“We are proud, not only of Ayodele, Gbadegesin and Linus, but also of our role in helping them assert and defend their rights. We are proud to have stood by them since their ordeal began, amplifying their voices through our advocacy and media networks, and facilitating legal services for them.” CAPPA said. “We pledge to continue rendering support to other Nigerian students defending their constitutional rights across the country.”
According to the CAPPA, “universities should be spaces where ideas are contested, where authority is questioned, and where future leaders are trained not just to comply, but to think critically and act courageously. When administrations resort to suspensions, rustications, and intimidation, they turn campuses into zones of fear rather than forums of debate. This is dangerous and unacceptable.”
Ibeh described the issue as a systemic attempt to shrink civic space within Nigerian higher institutions.
“When students are punished for peaceful protest, the message is that lawful dissent will not be tolerated. What kind of society punishes its young people for caring enough to speak?” she added.
Calling on university authorities to recognise students as stakeholders rather than adversaries, CAPPA demanded that fee policies and other developments affecting students be subjected to transparent, participatory processes that consider the socio-economic realities of students and their families.
“Chronic underfunding of the education sector has shifted the burden onto vulnerable students, creating a system where access is increasingly determined by wealth rather than merit. Until this structural issue is resolved, protests will persist, and rightly so,” CAPPA added.
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