The abducted Deputy Vice-Chancellor Administration of the Abia State University, Prof Godwin Emezue, has regained his freedom after spending nearly two weeks in captivity.
Recall that Emezue was confirmed to have been abducted on January 27, 2024, at a filling station near Amachara, in Umuahia South council area where he had gone to refill his tank, along with his wife.
Emezue was said to have been released on Tuesday night by his abductors.
A source close to the professor’s family told The PUNCH that the kidnappers had earlier demanded a ransom of N35 million.
“The kidnappers had released footage of how they tortured the professor and threatened to kill him if the family failed to pay N20 million before the end of Saturday last week,” the source added.
In a viral video that surfaced on Monday, a lecturer at the university was seen disciplining students inside the lecture hall.
The incident sparked widespread controversy and condemnation, as such behaviour was deemed unacceptable for a tertiary institution.
Following a petition submitted by Kano-based lawyer, Abba Hikima, the university’s Deputy Registrar, Information and Public Relations Unit, Sai’du Abdullahi Nayaya, announced on Tuesday that the lecturer in question had been identified, queried, and subsequently suspended.
In a statement titled “Re: Viral video on student maltreatment,” Nayaya confirmed that the suspended staff member would undergo further disciplinary proceedings before the Senior Staff Disciplinary Committee.
The statement read, “The attention of the management of Aliko Dangote University of Science and Technology, Wudil, is drawn to a viral video circulating in the social media, of physical assault/corporal punishment meted out on some students by an academic staff in a lecture hall and the story on the issue carried by some media houses.
Kano varsity suspends lecturer for meting out corporal punishment on students“To that effect, the management of the university immediately queried and suspended the staff in question and forwarded the case to the Senior Staff Disciplinary Committee for further action.
“These measures are taken swiftly to arrest the situation and bring justice. The management is hereby assuring parents and guardians and the general public that the welfare and safety of the students are topmost and any breach by whosoever will not be tolerated and go unpunished.
“The management is also assuring that it will continue to provide conducive learning conditions to the students for them to graduate successfully at the end of their studies.”
Comments