By Halimah Olamide
An associate of the former President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities Prof Dipo Fasina has given more insight into what happened to the Philosophy don on his way to Algeria.
Comrade Owei Lakenfa, a columnist and activist, said rather than being missing as reported by the media on Sunday, the former ASUU president missed his flight in Istanbul Turkey while sorting the new flight became complicated.
In a statement released by Lakenfa on Sunday, he said what happened was far from being missing.
Read Details of this Statement Below:
Dr. DIPO FASHINA WAS NEVER MISSING.
A bit of clarification is necessary on former ASUU President,Dr Dipo Fashina.
A person whose whereabout we knew, could not have been missing.
Dr Fashina travelled on Sat July 1, 2023 on the invitation of the Algerian Government.
He missed the connecting flight on Sunday July 2 to Algiers from the Istanbul Airport. He tried to get another connecting flight but was unsuccessful.
On Tuesday July 4, he lost his phone and could subsequently not be reached directly.
The next day, Wednesday, July 5, a Nigerian Ambassador was with him, but efforts to get a ticket reissue or a new ticket, failed because the flight was full.
His original return date to Abuja was Friday July 7, 2023. But for yet unclear reasons which may include the fact that he did not complete the first leg of his journey and his ticket was issued by Air Algiers and not directly by the Turkish Airlines, he could not get on the flight.
Once he was not on that Friday night flight, his family, ASUU and comrades took immediate steps including to send somebody to Istanbul, contacting the Diaspora Commission and the Nigerian Embassy in Turkey which immediately despatched an official on Sunday morning to link up with Dr. Fashina and secured a Monday July 10, 2023 flight for him.
Owei Lakemfa.