By Ogundare Favour and Abdulrasheed Olokoto

Another case of clothes theft has resurfaced at the Independence Hall of Residence, University of Ibadan, IndyPress has learned.

The incident occurred around 7 PM on Monday, April 6, 2026, when a yet-to-be-identified individual was reportedly caught stealing clothes within the hall premises.

According to the student residents of the hall, the alarm raised at the early stage of the incident was initially dismissed as a prank.

However, eyewitness accounts later confirmed that a suspect was apprehended while packing clothes that were claimed not to have belonged to him.

Identified as a non-resident, the suspect was subsequently arrested and handed over to University of Ibadan Campus Security service, codenamed  Abefele.

Recall that earlier in the day, there was a similar occurrence with a non-student resident allegedly caught in an attempt to steal hanged clothes in the hall.

Speaking with IndyPress, a student resident of the hall, Gabriel Adebisin, who was reportedly rough-handled during the incident, narrated the incident.

“I personally don’t know much about it because I was in my room. I only stepped out as a Defence Marshal to look around the Indy Hall Quadrangle and check if there was any issue. That was when I saw two guys, and one of them saying, ‘If you come near me, I will stab you.’ That was what attracted me to the scene,” Adebinsin said.

He further explained that upon discovering the suspect allegedly involved in the theft, he interrogated him to manage the situation, but the situation escalated as some residents began chasing another suspected individual within the hall.

According to him, the suspect he encountered was later taken to the Porter’s Lodge by residents, where he was further interrogated and allegedly assaulted physically before the arrival of campus security personnel.

Adebisin further disclosed that while attempting to clarify the situation by presenting a sack believed to have contained stolen clothes, he was also assaulted by another resident who mistook him for an accomplice.

He added that the suspect identified himself as a Distance Learning Centre (DLC) student while denying involvement in an earlier theft incident reported the same afternoon.

“When he said he came from DLC, it gave me the assurance that these were two different cases. The one they were running after earlier was another person, and the one that was caught later was different.”

“Earlier in the afternoon, another suspect had also been apprehended. That makes it three reported cases of clothes theft in the hall, with two occurring in the evening.”

He further noted that the suspect he interacted with appeared to be different from the individual earlier chased by residents.

The incident reportedly triggered reactions from some residents, who expressed concerns over the decision to hand over suspects to campus security officials, alleging that an earlier suspect arrested in the afternoon had been released.

Reacting to the incident, the Hall Administrator-General, Obinelo Chisom assured residents that the matter would be properly addressed, unlike the earlier afternoon case.

Efforts by IndyPress to obtain comments from campus security officials proved unsuccessful, as a correspondent was denied access to the security office despite presenting an identification card.