Students of D.S. Adegbenro ICT Polytechnic in Itori, Ogun State, blocked the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway on Tuesday morning to demand justice over the Ogun polytechnic student killing carried out during an overnight robbery attack. The protest, which paralysed traffic on both sides of the busy highway, followed an armed raid at Eruku, a community situated directly behind the institution.
Armed men stormed a student hostel at Eruku around midnight, according to the Students’ Union Government president, Comrade Owoigbe Blessing. Blessing said a final-year HND II Marketing student was shot dead, while a female colleague sustained an ear injury and a male student was hospitalised at the Federal Medical Centre after being shot.
Blessing insisted that neither the polytechnic nor its host community has adequate security cover. He appealed directly to the Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, for urgent intervention, saying plainly that “there’s no security” in the area. He added that the Ogun polytechnic student killing was not an isolated case, describing similar raids on Eruku as a recurring nightmare for students.
The polytechnic‘s management confirmed the fatality and suspended its examination timetable in response to the Ogun polytechnic student killing. Engr Gideon Adekunle, chairman of the Timetable, Examination and Academic Calendar Committee, said in a statement that papers scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday were postponed to allow affected students to regain their composure, and “to honour the deceased.”
Adekunle’s statement added that examinations would resume on Friday, 31 July 2026, with a revised schedule for the postponed papers to be communicated in due course.
The Police Public Relations Officer for the state command, DSP Oluseyi Babaseyi, confirmed that officers had been deployed to the scene following the Ogun polytechnic student killing. Babaseyi described the demonstration as peaceful and said personnel were engaging directly with students to restore order along the expressway.
NANS chairman in Ogun State, Comrade Olabode Faruq Success, condemned the rising rate of insecurity around tertiary institutions in the state after the Ogun polytechnic student killing. Success noted that a similar case had been recorded in Ilaro the previous week and called on Governor Abiodun to deploy police patrols and vigilante support around student communities, insisting that “the insecurity across all our campuses must come to an end.
Separately, the NANS Secretary General, Oladimeji Uthman, described the Ogun polytechnic student killing in a statement as heartbreaking and a painful reminder of the security challenges facing students nationwide. Uthman declared a state of emergency in Eruku, advising students with alternative accommodation to relocate temporarily until the security situation improves. He also urged the Ogun State Police Command, under Commissioner Bode Ojajuni, to conduct a transparent investigation and ensure that those responsible are apprehended and prosecuted.
The Ogun polytechnic student killing is the latest in a recurring pattern of robbery attacks on student communities in the state. At a recent security summit, the polytechnic’s Dean of Students Affairs, Adedayo Musari, disclosed that Ipara recorded 15 robbery cases and two student deaths between 2009 and 2026, while Isara recorded 32 cases with five deaths, and Ode recorded 58 cases resulting in 16 student deaths over the same period.
In May, an armed robbery attack claimed the life of a student at Gateway ICT Polytechnic in Saapade, within Remo North Local Government Area. In April, about 12 gunmen attacked students at the College of Engineering, Olabisi Onabanjo University’s Ibogun campus, injuring several and making away with phones, a vehicle and other valuables. Some victims reportedly suffered machete cuts during that attack.
The recurring nature of these attacks has hardened calls from NANS and student leaders for the state government to station permanent security patrols around polytechnics, universities and their host communities. Until such measures materialise, students warn that another Ogun polytechnic student killing is only a matter of time.
