The National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS Southwest Zone, has given the Osun State Police Command 24 hours to either charge Comrade Bukola Alalade, popularly known as Machiavelli, to court or release him from detention.

In a statement jointly signed by NANS general secretary, Ojetola Babatunde, NANS southwest coordinator, Adeyemo Josiah, and public relations officer, NANS southwest zone, Olugbemi Timothy.

The zone’s leadership, on Tuesday, said the continued detention of the former NANS JCC Osun PRO over alleged involvement in a violent incident during a political procession amounts to punishment without trial.

According to the statement, police operatives allegedly arrested Machiavelli at about 1:00 a.m. at his residence and took him first to the Area Command in Ilesa before transferring him to the State Criminal Investigation Department in Osogbo.

NANS noted that Alalade’s family was not properly informed of his whereabouts at the time of arrest.

The students’ body added that the student leader was arrested for alleged involvement in violence during a political procession and claimed to have video evidence.

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NANS added that no credible material was presented to them during his visit to the Police Command.

The students’ body acknowledged the police’s duty to investigate crime but warned against detention without due process.

The students’ body, however, called on the Inspector-General of Police to intervene and ensure that the Osun Command acts professionally and without political influence, especially with the Osun governorship election scheduled for August 15, 2026.

NANS stressed that its intervention has nothing to do with Machiavelli’s employment or political association, but with protecting the rights of a recognised student leader.

“If such evidence exists, place it before a competent court and prosecute him according to law.

“The mere existence of an allegation cannot become a substitute for judicial scrutiny or an excuse for prolonged detention.

“We acknowledge the responsibility of the Nigeria Police Force to investigate crime. What we will not accept is a situation where allegation gradually becomes punishment through continued detention without the intervention of a court.

“An allegation is not a conviction. An investigation is not a sentence.

“He is one of us. He is a former NANS JCC Osun PRO, a former Convention Planning Committee Chairman, an alumnus of the University of Ilesa and an active stakeholder in the student movement,” the statement said.