The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Coordinator for Ogun State, Mrs. Olayinka Nasamu, stated on Wednesday that the organization is unaware of the hit-and-run driver who killed Gateway ICT Polytechnic, Saapade, Aiyepe Annexe student Pelumi David Idowu, last Monday in front of the NYSC Orientation Camp on Sagamu-Ikenne road.
According to reports, the rider carrying Idowu was struck from behind by the evading driver, instantly killing both the motorcyclist and the student.
Under the banners of the National Association of Nigerian Students and the National Association of Ogun State Students, students in Ogun State demonstrated on Tuesday against the student’s death, claiming that the state coordinator of NYSC had covered up the perpetrator.
The car’s driver, Ojo Aina, a NYSC worker, was accused by the students who protested to the Ogun State police command of driving over the deceased and then entering the orientation camp to cover it up.
On Wednesday, Nasamu told reporters in her office that the accusations were all fabricated, untrue, and the product of the students’ bodies’ imaginations.
As a mother and the head of a federal government agency that prioritizes the security and development of Nigerian youth, Nasamu could not have supported anything that would have obstructed the course of justice, she said, expressing her condolences to the family of the deceased and to the Students Union Government of the Polytechnic.
The Coordinator said that the Department of State Service and the police, among other security authorities, had exonerated the Corps of any wrongdoing and that NYSC was not aware of the occurrence.
She stated that even the Polytechnic’s administration, which included the President of the Students Union and the Rector, had been to his office to apologize to the NYSC for making the false accusation.
According to Nasamu, the Polytechnic student body also disassociated itself from the group that organized the protest outside the Ogun Police headquarters on Tuesday and released a statement denouncing the less honorable action.
The Coordinator clarified that while the Ojo Aina the students were falsely accusing is a member of the agency’s staff, he was only called upon following the accident and had driven his car from inside the camp to the gate in order to attend to the situation. Nevertheless, the students proceeded to accuse him of being the driver of the vehicle that killed the deceased.
“First and foremost, I want to extend my condolences to the families of the victims affected by this unfortunate incident, on behalf of the NYSC as a responsible organization and myself as a mother,” she stated.
“May they find peace and strength at this trying time. We extend our condolences to the Gateway Polytechnic community as a whole as well as the Student Union Government (SUG).
“I am happy to inform you that the Nigeria Police Force in Ogun State and the Department of State Services (DSS) have concluded their comprehensive investigation and found no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of the NYSC.”
She further mentioned that the president of the student union, the rector, and the dean of student affairs at Gateway Polytechnic had admitted their error and offered a formal apology for the false charges that were leveled against the NYSC.
“They have promised to provide a rebuttal in the public eye to address and rectify the false information that has been spreading through the media.
Additionally, Gateway Polytechnic’s student body has disassociated itself from the organization that organized yesterday morning’s protest at the Ogun State Police Headquarters.
Nasamu claimed, “For your reference, we have the official reports from the DSS and the press release from the Student Union President.”
