‘Former ASUU President Fashina Was Never Missing’

A former National Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Owei Lakemfa, has claimed that the former President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Dipo Fasina, was never missing.

Naija News reported that Fasina, who was missing for about a week, was found by officials of the Nigerian Embassy in Turkey on Sunday.

The former ASUU boss is reported to have been travelling to Algeria at the invitation of the Algerian government when he missed his connecting flight from Istanbul, Turkey.

But in a statement titled “A bit of clarification is necessary on former ASUU President, Dr Dipo Fashina,” Lakemfa said the former ASUU President was never missing because his whereabouts were known.

He, therefore, dismissed the social media report that the retired Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) lecturer was missing, stressing that he only missed the connecting flight to Algiers from Istanbul Airport.

He said: “Dr Fashina travelled on Sat July 1, 2023, at the invitation of the Algerian Government. He missed the connecting flight on Sunday, July 2, to Algiers from 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 reissued 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 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 sending 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 (today) flight for him.”