The Vice Chancellor of Ekiti State University (EKSU), Ado Ekiti, Prof Edward Olanipekun, has allegedly abandoned two critically injured victims of the auto crash said to have been caused by his convoy in August this year.

CAMPUS GIST had reported how the accident, which occurred along the Ado Ekiti-Iworoko road on May 18, got Miss Ruqayat Mohammed, a 2018 law graduate of EKSU and her friend, Mr Abdulateef Oluwasegun, critically injured.

Both Ruqayat and her friend were in a Mitsubishi Lancer, one of the vehicles collided with by a vehicle in the VC’s convoy. They sustained multiple fractures in both legs and are yet to be able to walk.

To get Ruqayat on her feet, CAMPUS GIST gathered that over N1.5 million had already been spent by her parents, with no help from the VC, whose convoy allegedly caused the accident.

The VC had in a statement forwarded to CAMPUS GIST in August, said he was not directly involved in the accident. Prof. Olanipekun insisted his back up vehicle was involved in the accident after he had already passed by the scene.

The VC also disclosed that “those involved in the accident are already receiving treatment at the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH) and they are in stable conditions.”

However, at the weekend, CAMPUS GIST gathered that all efforts made by families of the victims to get assistance from either the EKSU VC or the University had been futile.

“Even when my dad wrote a letter to the VC, seeking his assistance, we did not get any response,” Ruqayat, who has been confined to the wheelchair told reporters.

A copy of the letter by Ruqayat’s dad, Mohammed Subar, dated July 9, 2020, is reproduced below by CAMPUS GIST;

“Sir, my name is Mohammed Subar, it is with utmost humility that I write through your good and high office to notify you of the auto crash which occurred on the 18th of May 2020, involving my daughter, Miss Ruqayat Mohammed, a 2018 graduate of Ekiti State University, faculty of Law and her friend, Mr Abdulateef Oluwasegun, both Alumni of the above mentioned institution that led to multiple fractures in both legs of my daughter and her friend.

“Sir, this accident has caused my family so much and as a result we have spent over N1.4 million at the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital and still spending, because on the 6th of July, 2020, she was referred to National Orthopedic Centre, Igbobi, Lagos for a hip surgery.

“Attached to this letter are the copies of her pictures and the referral letter.

“Sir, this is to bring to your notice the untold hardship this unfortunate accident has caused my family and I believe strongly that by the reason of this letter, you will play a fatherly role in other to save both Ruqayat and Abdulateef’s career.

“Thanks in anticipation of your prompt response.”

It is, however, not clear if the letter got to the vice chancellor. When contacted by CAMPUS GIST, a spokesperson for the University, declined comment. He said he was not allowed to speak on the matter.