Ex-provost found dead inside office at OAU

Lecturers and students of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State were shocked following the discovery of the lifeless body of a former Provost, College of Health Sciences, Prof. Solomon Ogunniyi, inside his office on Tuesday. Some of the students said Ogunniyi locked himself up in the room and he was found dead by those who forced the door open after knocking at the door repeatedly without any response. They added that Ogunniyi’s colleagues were worried because the deceased did not come out of the office for a very long time. He was said to have been rushed to the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, where doctors confirmed him dead. The deceased, who was said to be around 60 years of age, left behind a wife and two children. The Public Relations Officer of OAU, Mr. Biodun Olanrewaju, confirmed the incident. He said Ogunniyi’s death could be caused by illness, while ruling out murder. He said nothing suggested that the lecturer was murdered. Ogunniyi died barely three months after the university lost a lecturer at the Department of Agricultural Economics, Dr. Deji Adejobi. Adejobi was shot dead at his residence located at The New Dawn, near Ife toll gate in Ile-Ife. Also, Prof. James Olomo of the Department of Nuclear Physics disappeared over two years ago and he has yet to be found. Olomo travelled to Eket in Akwa Ibom State to offer consultancy services to an oil company and lodged in a hotel. He left his hotel room and nothing has been heard about him since then.