By Faith Ajewole
The Association of Campus Journalists, Obafemi Awolowo University (ACJOAU), has officially withdrawn from providing live updates and situation reports on the ongoing 2024/2025 Students’ Union elections, citing widespread harassment, intimidation, and physical abuse of its field reporters.
The decision was announced in a press statement released on Wednesday, July 24, following a series of hostile incidents across multiple polling units on campus.
According to the association, accredited campus journalists were deliberately blocked from accessing election venues by electoral officials.
In several severe instances, reporters were manhandled, threatened, and physically prevented from documenting the electoral process.
“These actions represent a serious assault on press freedom and a direct attack on the peaceful, transparent, and accountable process that ought to define every democratic election”, the association stated. And this raises grave concerns regarding the transparency and public credibility of the conduct of the election.
Consequently, ACJOAU affirmed that its blackout on live coverage will remain in effect until the safety, dignity, and unrestricted access of its reporters are fully guaranteed.
