Suspended poly rector denies threatening governing council boss

Suspended acting rector of Ibarapa Polytechnic in Eruwa, Oyo State, now Adeseun Ogundoyin Polytechnic, Peter Adejumo, has denied threatening the chairman of the institution’s governing council, Dr. Samuel Ogundiran.

The governing council chairman had raised the alarm over threat to his life, following the attack on the acting registrar, Samuel Obagunle, who is currently in a critical condition at the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan.“I don’t know anything about what he said. Why do I want to threaten him? I am not aiming to be the chairman. He was my chairman. It is funny for someone of that calibre to be making such a statement,” the rector told The Guardian.

According to Ogundiran, problem started when the governing council found the former management team led by Iyiola Eyitayo guilty of gross misconduct, which led to its suspension. Ogundiran told newsmen: “I noticed that a particular phone number was calling me, which I refused to pick. When I later picked the call, the voice I heard was that of an old man. He called my name three times and started making some incantations and curses.

“Immediately, I called the Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Shina Olukolu, to inform him about the development. I also informed the area commander of police in Eruwa.“On Saturday morning, I saw a text message from the chairman of Eruwa elders-in-council warning me not to pick any call, for security reasons. The acting rector, Mr. Adejumo, later called me and told me that the acting registrar was beaten up and had been rushed to UCH in Ibadan.”

Ogundiran alleged that the suspended rector might be responsible for the threat to his life, as the refusal of the former acting permanent secretary of Oyo State Ministry of Education to reinstate him did not go well with him.“Eyitayo went for a meeting with the acting management team in Ibadan on Friday, not knowing that the appointment of the permanent secretary who gave him letter of reinstatement had been reversed; so his reinstatement letter was nullified,” he said.

Emphasising that the governing council suspended the former management team because of false information, he noted that the information in their file was forged.