40 students arrested as EFCC raid UDUS hostel

No fewer than forty students of Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto students were allegedly arrested when the operatives from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) stormed their hostels in the early hours of Saturday.

A senior staff of the school who spoke with our correspondent on condition of anonymity as he is not authorized to speak with journalists confirmed that no fewer than 40 students were arrested during the raid.
He however disclosed that after some level of investigation by the agency, 30 of the students have been released with 10 others still with the EFCC.

He said the school authority is discussing with the agency to unravel the circumstances behind their arrest and why the school was not involved in the exercise.
An eyewitness who spoke with our correspondent on condition of anonymity revealed that the raid occurred in the Kwakwalawa and Gidan Yaro communities area within the Campus.

He said dozens of students were picked up by the EFCC operatives.

Also, one of the students who simply identified himself as Abdul, said officials of the agency stormed their hostels around 4 am, indiscriminately arresting several students.

“It was like a scene from a movie. We thought they were kidnappers at first, but then we saw the EFCC logo on their vests.”

He claimed that the EFCC operatives did not provide any explanation for the arrests or produce any warrants.

Another student who also spoke with our correspondent on condition of anonymity condemned the raid which he said is not acceptable in a civilised society.

“This is unacceptable. “We demand answers from the EFCC. What were they looking for? Why did they arrest our colleagues?”

Efforts to get the reaction of the school management were not successful as the phone number of the public relations officer of the school, Ismaila Muhammad, could not be reached at the time of filing this report.