A self-proclaimed mad man caused a stir on Sunday in a hostel in the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, when he brought in some flammable materials into the campus.
The man, who identified himself as Adedayo Daniel, brought in materials such as a keg of petrol, wires, stove and newspapers at about 1pm.
It was learnt that some of the students around, who were suspicious of his intention, quickly mobilised and apprehended Daniel, who was said to have told them that he was mentally ill.
The students alleged that Daniel could be responsible for a fire outbreak which occurred in the institution last Wednesday.
They also said the composure of Daniel did not show that he was mentally challenged as he claimed.
A witness, identified simply as Tope, said he knew Daniel to be a mentally-ill person on the street, adding that he was popularly known as 'Rasaki Synco master'.
The students were, however, not convinced of Daniel's illness, saying that he initially pretended to be one of the students until he was caught.
An eyewitness, identified simply as Baba T, said, "A guy was caught trying to break into one of the rooms in Awo Annex. Some materials suspected to be explosives were found in his bag. After he was beaten up, he confessed that he was sent to wreak havoc in the hostel, adding that he was behind the Wednesday explosion in OAU. He was later taken to the investigative room by the students."
Another student, who gave his name as Abiodun, told our correspondent that it was easy to pick Daniel out because students were no longer many on the campus.
Abbey said, "We are not much on campus. So it makes it easier for us to identify a strange face. When we saw him, we asked him to identify himself. He could not do that and we decided to check his luggage.
"We saw some material with him ─ some we could identified and others, we couldn't. We called some science students to check some of the liquid substances and they confirmed that they were materials that could cause explosion."
The student said they believed that Daniel wanted to cause explosion during the final match of the just concluded World Cup.
"That was how there was explosion on Wednesday. He thought he will be successful again. We are not fools here and we are security conscious," he said.
When contacted, The Chief Security Officer of OAU, Mr. Paul Ogidi, confirmed that a person was arrested and had been taken to the police.
Also, the Public Relations Officer of the School, Mr. Biodun Olarewaju, told our correspondent on the telephone that necessary steps were being taken to confirm if the arrested person was mad or not.
He said, "Our security unit apprehended somebody whose move was suspicious. When they searched him, a stove, old newspapers copies and some liquid mixture suspected to be kerosene or petrol was found on him.
"We don't want to leave anything to chances because of the security challenges in the country.
"That is why we handed him over to the police. I wish to put on record that our security officers are vigilant and we don't want problem here. Necessary steps have put in place to safeguard lives and property."
JULY 15, 2014 BY SODIQ OYELEKE
http://www.punchng.com/metro-plus/oau-students-catch-mad-man-with-flammable-materials/
Written by NEWSTRAWL ONLINE UPDATE
Sodiq Oyeleke is a Media, Human Resources, Project Management and Public Relations Practitioner
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