The management of Babcock University in Ilishan Remo, Ogun State, has explained to the general public that a one-year Joint Universities Preliminary Examinations Board student, Oladipupo Siwajuola, who was declared missing from the institution’s premises by his mother, Fijabi Oyindamola Omotayo, left without proper clearance.

Siwajuola’s mother, Mrs. Fijabi, had raised the alarm about her son’s disappearance last week on social media.

Mrs. Fijabi had accused the institution of protecting two students who had last seen her son before his disappearance and feared that the institution was hiding the truth about her son’s disappearance.

She revealed that she had not been able to reach out to Oladipupo after dropping him off at school on April 27.

In an official statement issued by the university on Monday, Babcock said, “Unverified reports indicated that Oladipupo Siwajuola emerged from his hiding place in Akute, in Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State, Nigeria, a town very close to Lagos State where he previously attended secondary school.”

The statement, titled “Mother’s online sensational outbursts over ‘Missing son’: Babcock sets the record straight,” read, “The student’s exit from the University campus was neither approved nor known to the University at the time. In an unfortunate turn, the student’s mother took to social media to sensationalise the situation, falsely accusing Babcock University and its students of negligence and complicity.

“These public allegations were not only misleading but deeply regrettable. She was doing this while the University, rather than joining the needless engagement on social media, was busy galvanising efforts, urgently and assiduously, in collaboration with the Nigeria Police Force, other security agencies, ever-patriotic and dedicated Babcock student bodies, and concerned citizens to ensure the safety and return of the student.”

Babcock University added in the released statement that Mrs. Fijabi has yet to let the university know that her son has come back.