Civil Society Organization, the Joint Action Forum has alleged that clandestine government agents murdered former Academic and Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) president, Festus Iyayi, in order to destabilize the Union.
“We strongly believe that the assassination of Comrade Iyayi was carried out by expert shooters in the cover of the Nigerian intelligence, reminiscent of the state murder of Dele Giwa in 1986 and Kudirat Abiola in 1996,” JAF said in a statement.
Several groups are calling for an autopsy on the corpse of Iyayi in order to establish if there was foul play in the midst of the accident.
The Benin chapter of ASUU in a statement said Iyayi was “willfully” murdered by government and “its agents”.
A retired army colonel told journalists that the hole seen in Iyayi’s chest were consistent with bullet holes. “There is a 70 per cent probability that the man was murdered and 30 per cent that it was an accident,” he said.
Professor Itse Sagay, a lawyer and former colleague of Iyayi had this to say about Iyayi’s death: “Nobody can pinpoint exactly what was responsible for the injury (the hole in the chest), which I believe killed him. There was no piece of iron or sharp-edged object found that could have done it. I believe the only solution to the problem is to have a very thorough autopsy to determine the cause of death and from there, one can then begin to build on what possibly could be responsible for his death.”