Mother of the slain student of the Ajayi Crowder University (ACU), Mrs Anthonia Ozegbe, says despite her son getting N100,000 monthly for his upkeep, he was asking for more money.

She made the disclosure during the condolence visit of the management of ACU including the Registrar, Dr. Jadesola Babatola, Dean of Students’ Affairs, Prof. Roland Isibor and a senior member of the Chaplaincy, Venerable Ayo Dideola in their Abuja home.

Recall that 22-year-old 200L Mechanical Engineering student of ACU, Alex Akpo, was allegedly clubbed to death by some students in his hostel on alleged phone theft.

Alex was found stone dead last Saturday, May 25th, 2024 in a corner of a room a day after he had beaten to a pulp by his bully colleagues.

Mrs Ozegbe expressed pain and regret that her son did not, at any given time, confide in her what he was passing through in the hands of bullies on the campus.

“My son was always asking for money despite the fact that he gets N100,000.00 every month.

“Obviously, those bullies in the school were always asking him for money.

“The thing that pained me as a mother is that he did not confide in me nor did he tell the elder sister what he was going through in the school, she sobbed.

Following the tragedy, the Vice Chancellor of ACU, Prof. Timothy Abiodun Adebayo, has announced a three-day mourning period in honour of the murdered student.

At a press conference in the school’s Council Chamber, befuddled Prof. Adebayo said the three-day mourning would be characterised by no lectures, but prayers and fasting.

He pointed out that the school management was not unaware of some satanic devices.

“This is my fourth year as VC of Ajayi Crowther University; I never imagined that an unfortunate incident of this nature would ever occur in this university.

“I have been weeping since the incident. I never knew I could hold this press conference as I am emotionally down.

“I see all the students as my biological children. I do give some of them who approach me money.

“They all have my phone number. They do call me and we relate like father and children”, Prof. Adebayo stated.

Asked if he suspected cultism in ACU, the VC who vehemently rebuffed the notion, insisted that there were no cult activities in ACU.

“Cultists need bush to do their initiation. There are no bushes on campus. More so, by 8:00p.m every day, every student is already in their hostels.

“I attended a public university, we know how cultists operate. Cultists would not kill Alex the way the student was murdered,” he affirmed.

The vice-chancellor said that a total of 20 students were initially arrested and handed over to the police, but after preliminary investigations, only 12 were detained and taken to the police headquarters in Ibadan, along with the porter who was supposed to be on duty that day.

However, the Registrar, Dr. Babatola, who led the delegation to Abuja, hinted that Alex was picked from his room to another room where he was beaten to stupor leading to his untimely death over allegations that he stole a phone and transferred money to play spotting bet.

“Unfortunately, none of the management members knew about the beating until the next morning when a student reported it to us.

“It was in the morning that one of the students saw him lying in a corner and raised the alarm”, the Registrar stated.

In a related development, the National Association of Itsekiri Graduates (NAIG) has condemned the gruesome killing of Alex.

President of NAIG, Comrade Ben Eburajolo, at a press conference on Sunday, called on the police and other security agencies, to fish out those responsible for the murder.

Comr. Eburajolo, called on the school authorities to give the Police all necessary information that would aid justice.