Background : Obesity is the accumulation of adipose tissue beyond the normal limit to the extent of affecting both physical and psychosocial health. It is now considered a pandemic with an increasing rate in adults, adolescents and children worldwide. Objective : This study aimed to determine the prevalence of obesity using various anthropometric indices among fresh-men university students in a private university. Methods : A cross-sectional pre-admission school-based questionnaire was administered to collect socio-demographic data followed by physical assessment to collect data on the weight, height, and waist circumference of the students. Results : There were 1329 male and 1428 females, giving a ratio of 0.93:1.  Most of study participants were 18 years and above (n=2554, 92.6%), with the mean age of 18.9±1.503. Majority of study subjects (n=2267, 82.2%) were in the 51-100 kg weight categories with mean weight is 69.38±17.90 kg. Also, most study participants were above 1.5m in height, with a mean height of 1.69±11.9 m. The BMI showed that among the study participants, 137 (5.0%) were underweight, 1852 (67.2%) had healthy weight, and 373 (13.5%) were overweight, while 395 (14.3%) were obese. The measured WHtR showed that 267 (9.7%) were underweight, 1984 (72.0%) had normal weights, 114 (4.1%) were overweight, while 392 (14.2) were obese. The Mean waist to height ratio was 0.45±0.07. Age and gender varied significantly with BMI (P<0.001 and p= 0.04 respectively), WC (P<0.001 and p=0.02 respectively), while age and ethnicity varied significantly with WHtR (p<0.001 and p=0.033 respectively). BMI and WHtR performed better than WC in identifying freshmen with obesity. When compared with BMI, WHtR had a sensitivity of  56.8%  and  a  specificity  of  96.2%  with  a  positive  predictive value  of  93.7.% and  a  negative  predictive  value  of  6.9%. Conclusion : This study shows that a significant number of fresh-men university students, especially females above the age of 18 years are obese. This underlines the fact that obesity is fast becoming a public health issue among adolescents and young adults in developing countries. The need for the utility of BMI, WC and WHtR in identifying individuals with obesity cannot be over emphasized.