Who is AfriKa?

Who is AfriKa?

My nephew and I were recently chatting about the state of things in our tertiary institutions. He is a year one student at OAU (Obafemi Awolowo University), well, in a normal world he would have been in year 2. He had since beginning of his course of study spent 6 solid months at home courtesy of ASUU strike actions. When the last strike ended we all rejoiced but I was quick to warn him that another one is round the corner as that is the way the system has been operating for the best part of 20 years. Anyway this time, OAU is closed because students protested the high increase of tuition. If it wasn’t that, it sure will be something else, this time we don’t know yet how long OAU students will be at home. Well, since the state governorship election is round the corner, the word on the street was that OAU is unlikely to open its gates until the election is over, so give or take another six weeks at home.
I digress, but it’s hard not to talk about university closures when we all know what the implications are on the quality of our graduates.
During the chats with my nephew, one thing led to another and I made an example referencing the case of Afrika – George Iwilade and his mates murder case . I expected Ade, my nephew to join in, I didn’t find it funny when he asks ‘Who’s Afrika’ I thought he was joking but he said he could not remember the incidence. Yes, he was a lot younger when the horrendous murder happened but for some reason I was under the illusion that Afrika and his mates’ murder case should have being imprinted all over OAU buildings and indeed in all of Nigeria higher institutions to serve as constant reminders of why students cults have no place in our schools. More importantly of the facts that youths were the ones being brainwashed and then used as tools to instil fears in the minds of their mates.
It was July 10 1999. I happened to be on campus this night. I had talked to George Iwilade a couple of times before, he was young with that ambitious mind of someone who really was determined to change the world starting from his school. You could see the piercing look in his eyes. I really did not have any business with him but he contacted me as he wanted to have a dialogue on issues that I had no control over. Just like many change makers in history, sometimes they were grossly misunderstood. What is painful in our country though, is that over the years bad people have perfected their tactics in every aspects of our society that the easiest and fastest way of dealing with someone you disagreed with is to get rid of them, quicker as there is no fair justice system in place.
Like in any management, usually the boss is talked about but not often do we hear about the team that are working underground to make sure the boss’ work get the right recognition. It was Babatunde Oke that I knew quite a bit among the slain students. He was very energetic and positive guy. He was Afrika’s first hand man and very loyal man at that. If it wasn’t for his loyalty to Afrika, he wouldn’t have been killed that day. It was shortly after I saw him that he made his way to join Afrika where Tunde met his untimely death. Tunde Oke would have made an excellent leader as he was patience and worked hard to present Afrika in positive lights, to me at least.  Instead of them reaching their full potentials in life, they were mercilessly butchered, it was horrific to put it mildly. Their offence – Afrika and his team were exposing cultists on campus so the school authority could deal with them appropriately. Should this not be the job of school administrators to fetch out bad students so everyone can be safe and focus on their primary aims of being on campus?
I have never in my life felt so much hopeless and helpless as I could not for the life of me imagined why these students deserved to be butchered just because they raised their voices against cultism on campus. Days later was the biggest crowd I have ever witnessed on campus gathered on Sports Centre field chanting:
Oro nla le da, eh eh oro nla le da (great loss you’ve bestow on us)
eyin te pomo wa te je o dagba (those who killed our children, devoid of growing old)
oro nla le da (great loss you have caused)
Afrika and his mates murder were not the first case of unresolved murders in Nigeria and certainly hasn’t been the last, actually, it has since gotten worse. No one has been brought to justice for their murders. Sweeping all murder cases under the carpet and pretend as if nothing has happened is the most painful part of remembering this incidence fifteen years on.
I really hope OAU students will do more to remember Afrika and others and if there is one request to ask for their government is to make sure these guys’ murderers were made to pay for what they did.

How “Africa” Was Murdered on OAU Campus by Prof. Wale Omole’s Sponsored Cultists on July 10

Lanre Legacy was president of the Students Union Government (SUG) at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) during the massacre of student executives by cultists allegedly sponsored by the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Wale Omole.

In this interview with SaharaTV, Legacy shared his experience of the bloody morning of July 10, 1999; how the SUG secretary, George Iwilade (a.k.a Africa) was murdered; how himself escaped; how  SUG arrested some of the perpetrators who carried out the attack; how the arrested perpetrators exposed the Vice Chancellor Professor Wale as their sponsors; how Prof. Omole escaped being prosecuted  and other chilling memories of management’s highhandedness.

On the night of 9 July 1999 a number of student groups held a party at Obafemi Awolowo University. The 'Mirror Online' reports: "members of Kegites Club on the campus, Man O’ war members, and various other student leaders- both former and incumbent, gathered at the open ground between Angola and Mozambique Halls." Later in the night many of the party-goers began occupying the cafeteria of Awolowo Hall whilst others returned to their halls of residence to sleep.[4]

At between 3:00 and 3:30 am (now 10 July 1999) a large number of cultists (reported to be between 22 and 40) of the Black Axe confraternity arrived to carry out a preplanned assault on the university with the intention of carrying out the assassinations of several prominent members of the student union. Allegations that these assassinations were sponsored by the university's vice chancellor, Wale Omole, remain to this day but it is unclear if this is the case. It is said "one of the cultists, Kazeem Bello, aka Kato, confessed that Wale Omole had a hand in their July 10 dastardly operation." 

Upon arriving at the university the Black Axe cultists "drove through the main gate and proceeded to the car park next to the Tennis Courts in the Sports Center. They disembarked there and went on foot along a bush path to Awolowo Hall, where they violently interrupted the gyration, firing guns and also wielding axes and cutlasses." 

Although the order of the events that followed vary from account to account (in terms of who was killed in what order) it is clear that following the assault 4 people were left dead, another died from gunshot wounds later, one more survived from a gunshot wound and "Twenty-five others received minor injuries, which were sustained during the stampede out of the Awolowo Hall cafeteria and later on during the attack." 

The Mirror Online reports "The victims, which included the then Students’ Union Secretary General, George Yemi Iwilade, (fondly called Afrika); 400 level medical student, Eviano Ekelemu; a graduating student, Yemi Ajiteru; 100-Level Philosophy student, Babatunde Oke, and Ekpede Godfrey were gunned down by the “marauding beasts” in Blocks 5 and 8, Awolowo Hall."  Prof. Roger Makanjuola writes: "Tunde Oke was still alive but died on the operating table. Four others, George Iwilade, Yemi Ajiteru, Efe Ekede and Eviano Ekelemu, were brought in dead. Eviano Ekelemu bled to death from gunshot wounds to the groin and thigh. The other three died from gunshot wounds to the head." 

During the attack several accounts state the Black Axe members were heard to be "shouting, “Legacy, come out!”" referring to the suspended Students’ Union President, Lanre Adeleke.Additional targets of the attacks are described also. Prof. Roger Makanjuola's account states the same and he also writes: "During the course of the incident, the attackers also shouted the names of “Afrika”, George Iwilade, and “Dexter”, the Chief of the Kegites, demanding that they come out." 

Of the targets of the massacre Lanre Adeleke (Legacy) managed to escape by jumping from a balcony after hearing the gunfire. “Dexter”, the Chief of the Kegites, also escaped unharmed. George Iwilade (Afrika), the Secretary-General of the Students’ Union and a Law student was not so lucky. Upon entering his room the Black Axe "shot him immediately in the head. Then they smashed his head with their axe to make sure he was dead". 

It is reported George Iwilade (Afrika) was the only successfully assassinated victim. "Afrika, who was said to have carried out the arrest (relating to the incident on Saturday, 7 March 1999), was mercilessly butchered while the other four were just unfortunate victims" 

Prof. Roger Makanjuola gives the order of events as been: "They first entered Room 184, where they shot and killed Efe Ekede, a Part II Psychology student. In Room 230, they shot Charles Ita, a Part II Law student. A group of the attackers then shot Yemi Ajiteru, a Part II Religious Studies student, through the head in the corridor outside the Kegites’ headquarters. In Room 273, they found George Iwilade (Afrika), the Secretary-General of the Students’ Union and a Law student, and shot him through the head, along with another occupant, Tunde Oke, a Part 1 student of Philosophy, who was shot in the abdomen.

When the attackers got to Room 271, the room allocated to the suspended Students’ Union President, Lanre Adeleke (Legacy), they found that he had escaped. Legacy was in his room when he heard the first gun shots..... The band of thugs proceeded to Fajuyi Hall on foot, where they shot and killed one more student. That individual, Eviano Ekelemo, a medical student, was certainly not a student activist, but they shot him anyway.". However, the order in which the victims were killed varies in various testimonies by a number of witnesses. 

Prof. Roger Makanjuola's account of the Black Axe cultist's escape is"The murderers left Fajuyi Hall on foot and went through the bush path behind the Hall back to their vehicles. They drove to the Students’ Union building, which they ransacked. They returned to their vehicles and drove out of the University through the main gate. The security staff, having heard gunfire, fled for their lives. Thus the exit of the marauding thugs was unchallenged." 

Who was responsible

The attack was carried out by members of the Neo Black Movement of Africa aka The Black Axe. A confraternity infesting Nigerian society, particularly the country's universities, and responsible for large amounts of violent crime. Many reports exist of the ill-effects cultism has on Nigerian society. One such report states: "(Cults) have brutally ravaged Nigeria’s 37 state-run institutions. The massacre at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) is only the most recent tragedy. Observers estimate that 150 students have been slain in the last five years, with scores more victimized by rape, assault, extortion, kidnapping, blackmail, torture and arson attack. 

Cultists — who often emulate the music and attitudes of American street-gang culture — dominate several campuses with intimidation tactics. Sometimes they employ threats of murder or extortion for seemingly petty ransoms, like an “A” grade or a fraudulently written term paper. Unprotected students, professors and administrators are often forced to surrender whatever grades, goods and privileges that the cultists demand." 

Today, in 2015, the Black Axe is still an ongoing problem. Responsible for the involvement in the murders of at least 200 people in 2014 and partaking other criminal activities around the world such as international smuggling of drugs, extortion, human trafficking and prostitution, counterfeiting of identity documents, cloning of credit cards, cheque fraud, 419 fraud, robbery, rape, murder and are used by politicians as 'hired thugs'. In Italy they have recently been classified as a 'Mafia' organisation.

In addition to those directly responsible, the Black Axe carrying out the attack, there is ongoing concern over the effect or indeed sponsorship by the other entities and individuals possibly involved. In addition to the alleged sponsorship of the attack by Vice Chancellor Professor Wale Omole it is believed that also the government, the police and judiciary were complicit in either motivating the massacre, allowing the favorable environment for the massacre to have happened and for allowing those involved to escape any prosecution. The black axe is recently responsible for the death of 11 people on July 7th.

In movies

Since then, there have been many movies conveying a storyline as the incident. In 2005, a Nollywood movie titled

Dugbe Dugbe ,written and produced by the famous Yoruba movie star, Bukky Wright was produced. As usual, there was blur speculation about the relationship of the movie to the incident but these was later confirmed with the location( Obafemi Awolowo University ),cast and storyline. In the movie, Africa (the prominent victim of the incident) was represented with Ladi who was killed on campus for his activism against cultism.

Jibola, a known cultist who had been jailed upon conviction of committing such offenses in the past was granted

clemency and fraudulently made the Students' Union Group president in order to facilitate latter investigations. The Vice-Chancellor alongside another lecturer was accused and convicted of being cultism kingpins, despite their ironic opposition to cultism. An automatic self-conviction of Prof. Omole aiding the incident was made at the movie's last scene

Who killed AfriKa What happened to AfriKaWas it true that the vice chancellor was Their Godfather of the cultist Who is legacy How many people were killed and Injured What happened after July 10 1999 in Oau