The President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Comrade Atiku Abubakar Isah, has been allegedly attacked by thugs linked to Seyi Tinubu, son of President Bola Tinubu, who violently disrupted the NANS inauguration ceremony held on Tuesday in Abuja.
The attack also reportedly targeted political figures at the occasion including former Minister of Education and two-term Governor of Kano State, Senator Ibrahim Shekarau, and former Governor of Kogi State, Captain Idris Wada.
Speaking to SaharaReporters on Wednesday, Atiku claimed that the attackers, armed with cutlasses and guns, stormed the venue — The Wells Carlton Hotel in Asokoro — in a coordinated assault that left several attendees injured and many robbed of their phones and personal belongings.
“At the inauguration hall which I personally paid for at The Wells Carlton Hotel, Asokoro, Seyi Tinubu arrived with a large number of security men and ordered them to stop the event,” Atiku said.
“The management of the hotel informed me about the interference, but I decided to go ahead with the inauguration. Immediately after we were inaugurated and Senator Shekarau began his speech, Seyi’s thugs entered the hall wielding guns and cutlasses. They stopped the senator, began stabbing people, and chased others away, snatching phones and valuables in the process.”
Atiku further alleged that the attack was premeditated, linking it to an earlier attempt by presidential aides to silence him with a bribe.
“Before the day of the inauguration, Seyi had asked the Senior Special Assistant on Students and Youth Affairs to lure me into silence with money. I was told he was ready to offer me a hundred million naira. My refusal to accept the bribe led to the attack yesterday.”
“When Seyi’s thugs, led by one Ladoja, came in with machetes and guns, they beat people and injured many. Nigerians should beg Seyi to spare my life,” Atiku said, sounding a note of distress.
“They attacked Senator Shekarau, the former Minister of Education, and also Captain Idris Wada, the former governor of Kogi State. Fortunately, both of them were whisked away by their security details. I, however, was taken to an unknown location after being beaten and injured.”
All efforts by SaharaReporters to contact the former Governor of Kano State, Senator Ibrahim Shekarau, and the former Governor of Kogi State, Captain Idris Wada, were unsuccessful, as they did not answer calls or respond to messages sent to them.
SaharaReporters previously reported that the newly elected President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Comrade Atiku Abubakar Isah, accused Seyi, son of President Bola Tinubu, of attempting to take his (Isah) life.
He also accused the president’s son of disrupting the inauguration ceremony of the association scheduled to hold at The Wells Carlton Hotel in Asokoro, Abuja.
Isah, who emerged as NANS President at the association’s national convention held on February 27, 2025, made the allegations on Tuesday in a phone call to SaharaReporters, claiming that his life was under immediate threat.
“At The Wells Carlton, Seyi Tinubu and his thugs are around to scatter our inauguration,” Isah alleged.
“Seyi has just ordered for me to be assassinated after the plea to buy me with money failed.”
According to the students leader, Seyi Tinubu allegedly instructed the hotel management to shut down operations, effectively locking guests inside and halting all movements to and from the premises.
“He has instructed the management to shut down everything. They have just informed me,” Isah said.
The NANS convention earlier this year was reportedly marred by factional disputes and allegations of external influence, raising tensions ahead of the planned inauguration.
