AAUA Tragedy: A Call for Safer Schools as Students’ Dreams Get Buried in the Bush, by Folaranmi A.

AAUA Tragedy: A Call for Safer Schools as Students’ Dreams Get Buried in the Bush, by Folaranmi A.

Editor’s note: In this piece, Folaranmi Ajayi shares the painful story of two AAUA students whose lives ended in betrayal and violence. He raises urgent questions about student safety and challenges parents and authorities to act before more dreams are lost.

On 20 June 2025, two students of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko — John Friday Abah, a 200-level student in the Department of Economics, and Andrel Eloho Okah, a 200-level student of History and International Studies, disappeared. They had left their hostels and never returned. For weeks, their friends and classmates searched tirelessly, filed reports, and made public appeals, but they were met with silence, delay, and institutional indifference.

Folaranmi Ajayi mourns AAUA students and calls for safer learning spaces beyond campus walls.
Folaranmi Ajayi mourns AAUA students and calls for safer learning spaces beyond campus walls. Photo credit: @Legendaryoba1
Source: Twitter

Their sudden absence created deep concern and fear among students. Colleagues who knew them well expressed frustration with the lack of progress in locating them. There was no trace that their phones were switched off, and all efforts to reach them proved abortive. For over two weeks, nothing concrete was done. The only message passed around was “calm down.”

On 13 July, news broke. Their bodies had been discovered in a forest along the Ondo-Ekiti border, decomposed, abandoned, and robbed of all dignity. The sorrow that engulfed the university community was quickly replaced with horror as further details began to surface. The police, during a press briefing four days later, revealed that the landlord of the male victim, Mr Oladele Femi, had masterminded the abduction. Working with two accomplices, one of whom remains at large, he coordinated the entire operation that led to the brutal r*pe and murder of the two students.

It is difficult to fathom that a landlord, someone entrusted with the safety of young people, could betray that trust in such a grotesque manner. He not only participated in the abduction but also helped conceal their murder. According to the police, the victims were held captive, during which a sum of ₦800,000 was withdrawn from Friday’s bank account. Eloho was sexually assaulted by one of the accomplices, and both she and Friday were eventually executed to eliminate any chance of exposure. Their bodies were dumped in remote areas to delay discovery and erase evidence.

As an educator, my heart bleeds. We spend years guiding students through learning processes, encouraging them to become productive citizens, and preparing them for a world filled with opportunities. Yet, how can they thrive when that world is hostile? How do we continue to encourage education when our students can be kidnapped and murdered by those meant to protect them?

This incident raises deep concerns about student safety, particularly for those living off-campus. Our universities are surrounded by private hostels, and very few institutions take responsibility for monitoring who runs them. Who supervises these landlords? Who registers them? Where are the structures for accountability?

Dreams buried in the bush: Folaranmi Ajayi urges action for safer schools after AAUA students’ deaths.
Dreams buried in the bush: Folaranmi Ajayi urges action for safer schools after AAUA students’ deaths. Photo Credit: AAUA
Source: UGC

To parents, I urge caution. While we celebrate our children’s independence, we must not detach completely from their realities. Safety should not be assumed. Visit their hostels. Know the landlords. Engage with the school’s security unit and insist on updated contact points. Encourage your children to build a strong community around them — peers, mentors, and groups that will immediately sense their absence.

To school authorities and government bodies, we must begin to treat students' lives with the urgency and seriousness they deserve. We can no longer rely on luck or reactionary policing. A vetting system for hostel landlords must be institutionalised. Reports of missing students should trigger immediate investigations, not bureaucratic responses. Students living off-campus should be part of a digital alert network that tracks safety, attendance, and welfare. Education is not complete without protection.

John and Eloho were not just names. They were dreams, ambitions, and the future of our nation. They did not deserve to die the way they did, abandoned in the wilderness, victims of greed and betrayal. Their story should not be reduced to a news cycle or a press briefing. It must be a turning point. If we remain silent, then we are all complicit. If we choose comfort over justice, then we, too, have failed them.

Let this be the last. Let this be a wake-up call. Let their deaths push us to act for every other student who walks into a hostel tonight and prays they wake up tomorrow.

Folaranmi Ajayi is an educator, journalist, and education policy writer passionate about transforming Nigeria’s education sector.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Legit.ng.

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Ololade Olatimehin (Editorial Assistant) Olatimehin Ololade is a seasoned communications expert with over 7 years of experience, skilled in content creation, team leadership, and strategic communications, with a proven track record of success in driving engagement and growth. Spearheaded editorial operations, earning two promotions within 2 years (Giantability Media Network). Currently an Editorial Assistant at Legit.ng, covering experts' exclusive comments. Contact me at Olatimehin.ololade@corp.legit.ng or +234 802 533 3205.