The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has denied reports that a former student of Osun State Polytechnic, identified as Ademiju Ayeni, popularly known as “Jago”, was killed during its recently concluded convention in Osun State.
A report had alleged that Ayeni was stabbed to death at the convention venue, the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Secretariat in Osogbo.
However, NANS Zone D Coordinator, Comrade Adeyemo Josiah, said the allegation was untrue, stressing that no student was killed during the convention.
According to him, the deceased died hours after the conclusion of the organisation’s meeting.
“The official proceedings were conducted within the controlled premises of the NUJ Council, Capital Road, Osogbo. Accreditation and access were handled by the Convention Planning Committee, while personnel of the Nigeria Police Force, DSS and other security formations were present throughout the exercise,” he said.
Josiah added that the proceedings were extensively documented through video recordings and live broadcasts, including TikTok Live, while national television stations also covered the event.
He said an earlier disagreement involving the deceased and some individuals occurred outside the convention gate but was resolved after security personnel and stakeholders intervened.
“An earlier verbal disagreement involving the deceased and some persons was reportedly observed outside the convention gate. Information obtained during our fact-finding indicates that security personnel and stakeholders intervened and the disagreement was amicably resolved. No stabbing was reported during that encounter,” he said.
Josiah urged the media to exercise caution in reporting the incident and warned against allowing the death to be used for political purposes.
“We equally caution aggrieved student leaders and political actors against attempting to weaponise this unfortunate death because of interests that were not realised during the just-concluded JCC election.
“The election has ended. The death of a young man must not become an instrument for political retaliation, factional propaganda or another round of division within the Osun student constituency,” he said.
He said the organisation’s preliminary fact-finding had established that the fatal incident did not occur inside the official convention proceedings.
“Our fact-finding has so far established one important point which must be placed clearly before the public and that is No student was killed inside the NANS JCC Osun Convention, and the available information does not establish that the fatal incident occurred during the official convention proceedings,” Josiah said.
He called for a proper investigation to determine the circumstances surrounding Ayeni’s death.
“Whatever eventually caused the death of Comrade Jago must be determined through a proper investigation based on witnesses, medical evidence, timelines and other credible evidence.
“Whoever is established to be responsible must answer for his or her actions, but innocent individuals must equally not be condemned through rumours, assumptions or political interests,” he added.
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