Ex-LASU student activist shot dead

A former Lagos State University students’ union presidential aspirant, Yusuf Alowonle, popularly called Omomeewa, has been shot dead in Lagos.

This was confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES by the chairman of the National Association of Nigerian Students, Joint Campus Committee, Lagos chapter, Samuel Olalere, also known as Samgrin.

He said the deceased, who was a graduate of Educational Management in 2019, had planned to pass the night at his residence before his death.

The deceased had contested for the post of the Lagos State University Students’ Union president in the 29th LASU students’ union election but lost.

‘Robbed at gunpoint’

According to a statement signed by Badmus ‘Badecious’ Uthman, the student leader, the deceased who was the founder and coordinator of the Education Rights Campaign (ERC), was shot alongside a school staff, Waheed Majekodunmi, also known as Majek, during a robbery attack on Wednesday night.

“On the 18th of August 2021, Comr. Nurudeen (Omomeewa) and a staff of Lagos State University known as Majek were robbed at gunpoint around 10 pm-close at the U-turn of LASU (Ojo entrance).

“It was gathered that both of them were shot. Mr Majek sustained an injury and has been hospitalized at the school clinic, Comr Nurudeen ( Omomeewa) was declared missing.

“When the union was informed this evening, the union proceeded to the school clinic to get some facts from Majek and he confirmed that his bag was collected including his phone.

“Later, the union checked all the hospitals around including police stations and it was there we were informed that Comr Nurudeen has given up the ghost and that his body is at Mainland Hospital.”

Mr Uthman said the members of the union proceeded to the hospital but were yet to see his body “because it is in the mortuary container already.”

Some students and officials of the university said they suspect that the two men may have been targeted by their assailants.

Protest

A WhatsApp group with over 250 participants titled “Protest for Omomeewa” has been created.

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But Mr Uthman, the students’ union leader, urged his members to disregard any information that there will be a protest in the school on Friday.

“Union is making sure the school environment is very safe for everyone. There will be a Press Conference tomorrow (20th of August, 2021) by 8: 00 a.m. prompt to address the issue at the Student Union Arcade, Behind Sports Centre,” the statement reads.

Mr Uthman told this newspaper on Friday that when the incident happened, Mr Majek who is presently at the school clinic, “ran for his dear life.”

He said the purpose of the press conference is to “call the attention of the state government to the insecurity around LASU, to swiftly act on the insecurity around LASU, Ojo campus because we don’t want to record anything of such again.”

Admission racketeering

Mr Alowonle, who got married in January, was in 2019 accused of “admission racketeering” by the school management but has not been found guilty.

In a statement he wrote before the incident titled “Call for support and solidarity,” he accused the management of setting him up.

“Members of the public, my comrades, families, friends, associates, and fellow LASUITES. I am bound to make this public call for support and solidarity given that presently I have been placed on an investigation by the Department of State Security Services in connivance with LASU Students Investigation Unit (SIEU) on an untrue and unfounded allegation of admission racketeering,” he had said.

He explained that one Mr Moses who claimed to be a staff of the ICT department in the school had called him during the student election in 2019 to collect an envelop containing N160,000 from one Mr Dami aka Young LASU Prof. and bring it to his office on October 28, 2019.

“He (Mr Moses) claimed to know me very well particularly during my election. He said he works at LASU ICT and that he is presently at the Epe campus for installation activities,” Omomeewa said.

“He added that he needed someone he can trust and he needs me to assist him to collect some money from someone. He argued that the money is for the purchase and installation of computer gadgets for personal use and the person is coming with cash.”

“In the evening, he asked me to take 5,000 for my ‘stress’ and requested that I deliver the remaining N155,000 to his cousin.

“However, in my mind, I was sceptical about the whole process and I called to demand that I needed to see him. We scheduled to meet by Friday last week 25/10/2019. He did not show up for Friday as scheduled, he cited heavy rain and bad Badagry road as an excuse without no date in mind to meet again,” he said.

Some days later, “he sent me a Whatsapp message “you can see me today in my office”.

But on getting to his office, Mr Alowonle said he met the cousin who gave him a “sealed envelop” to deliver to Mr Moses.

“He (cousin) introduced himself as Dami, a graduate of LASU for both his first and second degree, he went on to say, one of the degrees was from Banking and Finance Department while he shelved the question about his relationship with Mr Moses ICT, in the end, he gave me a sealed envelope to give Mr. Moses ICT whenever I meet him, he said.

“I queried him on why the envelope was sealed, he jokingly asked me not to be too inquisitive and I naively tried to be courteous to not intrude on the privacy of two partners. When I felt the envelope I noticed it was papers therein (and I wrongly assumed papers can not be harmless in any way) although I was not sure of what type of papers that were there.”

Mr Alowonle said on the same day, Mr Moses called him to come to his office.

“I proceeded to see him, this time I went alone, on getting to the ICT centre I asked the Marshal there to direct me to Mr Moses’s office, they said they don’t know anyone by that name.

“Immediately I called him, he told me he will come to meet me at the entrance, he asked for the colour of the clothes I wore for easy identification and I told him the colour.

“It was not too long after the call that some men approached me, they introduced themselves as men of the Department of State Security Services (DSS) and asked to search my bag. I asked them what and do they have the permission of the school to operate on stop and search within LASU community.

“Before they would respond I saw LASU Marshals in their numbers around me. They never ask for what happened, what they did was to ask that my bag be searched. It was then it occurred to me that it is a planned work to set me up and frame me and that whatever was in the envelope might have been planted on me to incriminate me.

“I immediately allowed them to search my bag, and they found they sealed brown envelope in my bag. They picked it and asked what I was doing with a sealed brown envelope. What made them so specially interested in the contents of only the envelope despite the other things I had in the bag made me more nervous than I was being set up.

“I told them I was there to meet Mr Moses and I am to give him the envelope because he asked me to collect it from Mr Dami (Young LASU Prof.) for him. We waited on the arrival of Mr Moses, he did not show up, and I was not allowed to use my phone.”

Many calls were put across to LASU spokesman, Ademola Adekoya, but it was unanswered at the time of filing this report.