On Tuesday, students of the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), Ondo State, apprehended ‘Tallest’, a notorious bully who had extorted and harassed their colleagues at the institution.

‘Tallest’ was nabbed at the school’s South Gate and beaten up by angry students before they handed him over to officers of the Western Nigeria Security Network, popularly called Amotekun.

Although little is known about his background, FIJ learned from sources in FUTA that he was not a student at the institution, but is an indigene of Akure who wanders around the school, taking advantage of students. He, alongside his gang members, would mount a post at the school’s South Gate to harass and extort students.

“We hear he is a 100 level student at the Adekunle Ajasin University (AAUA) in Akungba,” a student, who asked not to be named, told FIJ. “I, however, don’t know how true that is.”

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LIFESTYLE

In a video seen by FIJ, Tallest, dressed in a black t-shirt, short pants and a pair of white foot wears, stands beside two young people close to what looks like a PoS point in FUTA on Tuesday. His gestures and subsequent majestic movement around the young people suggest they are at his mercy. FIJ learned that the young people are 100 level students caught in Tallest’s web at FUTA’s South Gate.

According to a source, students from the institution had organised a protest in January to register their displeasure over similar incidents of bullying, physical assault, dispossession of valuables and other forms of extortion they had suffered for long in the hands of Tallest and other members of his gang.

“After the protest, a resolution was reached between the school authority and the student union government that ‘Tallest’ and his fellow tormentors be declared wanted,” the source said.

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FIJ gathered that apart from having pictures of ‘Tallest’ and other wanted persons pasted all over the school campus, the school authorities also invited security officials to protect students from the likes of ‘Tallest’.

‘I FEAR NO ONE‘

Despite being on the school’s wanted list, ‘Tallest’ returned on Tuesday to extort students. But he was not beaten just for showing up all by himself. FIJ learned he dared students, saying he feared no one.

“Last night, Tallest showed up on campus, all by himself, and probably with the belief that the heat was no longer on him,” a source told FIJ. “When some students confronted him, he said he wasn’t afraid of anyone, including our student union and the school authority.”

“His daring comments got students incensed and they apprehended him amidst heavy beating.”

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FIJ learned that some students got ‘Tallest’ an energy drink, so he could have energy to bear the beating.

It was also learned that officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), who had been invited by the school over recurring harassment of students, later took him to a hospital for treatment.

Tallest is still in custody of security officers while preparations are under way to hand him over to the police.