It was supposed to be just another night of music, dancing, and laughter at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) in Abeokuta. Instead, the people there say they lived through something that felt like a scene from a war film.
At around 2 a.m. on Sunday, August 10, more than 50 armed men, said to be from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), swept into the library grounds during a party called the Wet & Rave Splash Extravaganza. By dawn, 93 young people had been arrested, 18 vehicles seized, and the library’s once‐bustling fun spot left in shock and silence.
According to the library’s management, the operatives — led by a man identified only as “Olapade” — didn’t just show up. They allegedly arrived shooting into the air, threatening to kill, and sending terrified guests scrambling in every direction. In the chaos, some were injured, phones were snatched, and the night turned into a nightmare.
Now, the OOPL is demanding more than just answers. At a press conference on Wednesday, Managing Director Vitalis Ortese accused the EFCC and the police of carrying out a “malicious and unconstitutional” attack that damaged the library’s reputation and business, and stained the name of its founder — former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
They want a total of ₦3.5 billion in compensation — ₦1 billion for those arrested or injured, and ₦2.5 billion as “atonement” for the harm done to the institution and to Obasanjo’s image. They also insist on public apologies from both the EFCC and the Nigeria Police Force, to be broadcast and published across major TV, print, and social media platforms.
Ortese said security officers already stationed at the library were not informed or included in the operation — a move he described as a blatant show of disrespect. “This was not law enforcement; this was a siege,” he said. “They came to brutalise, to humiliate, and to destroy.”
The library’s legal adviser, Senior Advocate of Nigeria Olumide Ayeni, says there is physical evidence — including a beret and spent bullet shells — to prove there was reckless shooting.
The OOPL has given the EFCC and police just seven days to meet their demands. If not, they will go to court and, according to their statement, seek even higher damages.
For now, the smell of gunpowder has faded from the library grounds, but the sting of that night — the shouts, the stampede, the fear — still lingers for those who lived it. And for the institution built to preserve the legacy of one of Nigeria’s most famous leaders, the question remains: how do you erase a scar like this?
