The National Association of Nigerian Students has said it will embark on a nationwide protest if the detained student of the Federal University of Technology, Dutse, Jigawa State, Aminu Muhammed, is not released.
Mohammed was allegedly arrested and detained on the orders of the wife of the president, Aisha Buhari.
The 24-year-old had tweeted back in June in Hausa that the First Lady was feeding fat on the money meant for the poor.
The tweet read, “Su mama Anchi Kudin Talakawa an koshi,” meaning, “Mama has fed fat on poor people’s money.”
He was later taken to court, where he was remanded.
The National President, NANS, Usman Barambu, in a statement, said from December 5, 2022, students all over the country would start a protest until Muhammed was released.
The statement added that the protest was against the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, and Mrs Buhari.
It read, “Sequel to the exhaustion of all options available to us before confrontation in seeking the freedom of one of us who was arrested in a questionable manner, tortured, molested, harassed, and detained by agents of government, you are hereby notified of the decision of the leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students to proceed on a nationwide protest.
“We have consulted and consolidated, but neither has yielded desirable results in seeking the freedom of Aminu Adamu Muhammed, a student of the Federal University, Dutse; hence, the protest shall commence as follows: Monday, December 5, 2022. Please note that our demonstration shall continue until he is released unconditionally.”
Meanwhile, some Nigerians on social media slammed Mohammed over a tweet he made some months ago regarding the lynching of a 200-level student of the Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, Deborah Yakubu.
Yakubu was stoned by a mob and set ablaze for alleged blasphemy on May 12, 2022.
Mohammed had on May 15 supported the killing of Deborah in a tweet accompanied by the image of a white shirt showing Deborah’s picture.
An inscription on the shirt, ‘Murdered by peace.’ criticized the killers.
However, Mohammed, in his tweet, said, “Duk Wanda yasa wannan rigar ah Bauchi sai munchi uwarsa” meaning “whosoever wears this shirt in Bauchi will be dealt with.”
The tweet made many Nigerians withdraw their support as many believed Mohammed should be punished.
A Twitter user, @DavidHundeyin wrote, “I earnestly apologise for retweeting the appeal to free this fellow. May he remain inside that cell for as long as Deborah’s family is denied justice, plus some extra time for accrued interest.”
