A geography graduate from the University of Ilesa has been detained by police after organising a protest on campus over his exclusion from the National Youth Service Corps mobilisation list, igniting a dispute between a students' body and university management.

The graduate, Adedoyin Temitope, also known as Matuwo or Aregbe, was reportedly transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department in Osogbo following his arrest, which a source alleged was initiated after the university's vice chancellor contacted the police.

According to the source, Temitope had waited for more than two years to be mobilised despite completing his academic programme. "He graduated over two years ago, when some of his mates had finished their NYSC programme," the source stated.

The delay was attributed to discrepancies in his JAMB registration details. "The excuses the school management gave him were that his JAMB registration comprises three alphabets against the widely known two alphabets," the source added. The situation worsened after the institution allegedly informed him that he could neither be mobilised nor issued an exemption letter.

Temitope subsequently returned to campus and picketed the Senate building to press his demands. "In that regard, he locked down the Senate building as a means to get the attention of the management after exhausting all peaceful means," the source disclosed.

The National Association of University Students condemned the arrest through its Osun State Chairman, Comrade Adeleke Samson, describing the incident as intimidation. "No student should be subjected to violence for peacefully demanding their rights," the association stated. It called on the vice chancellor, Professor Taiwo Asaolu, to investigate the matter and facilitate the graduates' mobilisation without further delay, warning that further action could follow if the issue remained unresolved.

The university management, however, rejected the reports as inaccurate and misleading. In a statement by its Registrar, Funso Ojo, the institution clarified that it was yet to graduate its first set of students, noting that its pioneer cohort admitted in 2023 were still in their third year. It explained that Temitope completed a programme under the defunct Osun State College of Education, Ilesa, in affiliation with the University of Ibadan. The institution added that issues relating to his NYSC mobilisation were linked to admission regularisation with JAMB, a process it noted was not directly under its control.