NANS gives Aisha Buhari ultimatum to ‘release’ arrested student

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) North-west chapter, on Tuesday issued a two-day ultimatum to the wife of the Nigerian President, Aisha Buhari, to ‘release’ a student who was arrested for allegedly ‘trolling’ her on Twitter.

The student, Aminu Adamu, a final year student of the Federal University, Dutse, in Jigawa State, on 9 June 2022, tweeted a photo of Mrs Buhari with a caption in Hausa which translates to: “Mama is feeding fat on poor people’s money.”

The student was arrested early this month after the tweet went viral.

The National Treasury of NANS representing Zone A, Bashir Limanchi, in a press conference in Jigawa, said the student was arrested by the police on the university’s main campus in Dutse, the state capital, on 8 November at around 12 a.m.

Mr Limanchi said the NANS has given Mr Buhari two days’ ultimatum to release the student, otherwise, they will embark on a mass protest to press for the release of the student.

“We call on the federal government, the president, the First Lady, and involved security agencies to shun the temptation of infringement on its citizens’ rights and that if (student) is found anybody culpable of libel or defamation of character, the suspect should be charged in court.

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“Failure to adhere to the various calls by relevant unions, human rights commissions, and civil society organisations across the nation, we will call on other student unions across the nation, to join hands in calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Aminu Adamu in a solidarity protest to ensure his safe release.

“The student is due for his final undergraduate exam on 5 December. The student unions, human rights commissions, and civil society organisations will be compelled to march on the streets in solidarity protest across the country until we ensure his immediate release,” the NANS said.

The student union government of the University Federal University Dutse said students will not take their forthcoming examination in solidarity with their colleague if the wife of the president failed to order the release of the student.

Meanwhile, PREMIUM TIMES reported how the management of the Federal University Dutse, said the university was not in session when the incident happened, thus, the student “was not under the care of the university when he made the post on Twitter.”

“The unfortunate incident involving Aminu Adamu who made a Twitter post happened during the break.

“He did the posting in his capacity as Aminu Adamu, not as a student of FUD.”

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However, the university authorities have spoken with the parents of the student, who have already engaged the services of a lawyer to handle the matter.