From Felix Ikem, Nsukka
The management of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) has said that one Emmanuel Gambo, a murder suspect is not a student of the institution.
Emmanuel Gambo was recently arrested by police in an alleged connection with the murder of Deborah Sam-Praise Ememem in a hotel.
Some sections of the media had reported that the suspect is a student of the Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, UNN.
In a press statement signed by UNN Acting Public Relations Officer, Mr. Inya Agha Egwu on Monday, the university described the reports that linked the murder suspects to the university as false and misleading.
The statement noted that the institution’s records show that the suspect’s name does not exist in the database of students registered in the department or the faculty.
The partly read “The attention of the Management of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka has been drawn to a disturbing report circulating in sections of the media. The report alleged that one Emmanuel Gambo, from Kogi State, who was arrested by the police in connection with the murder of Deborah Sam-Praise Ememem in a hotel, is a student of the Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, University of Nigeria.
“We wish to categorically state that this claim is false and misleading.
“We have painstakingly investigated and cross-checked students’ records from 200 level to 500 level within the Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, as well as a verification from the Faculty of Engineering office, no such name, as Emmanuel Gambo, exists in the database of students registered in the department or the faculty,” the statement said.
The statement further stated that UNN views reports linking the murder suspect to the institution as a gross misrepresentation and defamatory, and urged media outlets and the general public to stop spreading the false information.
“The University views this false association of a murder suspect as a gross misrepresentation and a defamation of the integrity of not only the Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering but also the entire Faculty of Engineering and the University of Nigeria at large.
“We therefore urge media outlets, bloggers, and the general public to desist from further spreading this unfounded information.
“The University of Nigeria remains committed to academic excellence, discipline, and the moral upbringing of its students, and will not condone any attempt to tarnish its image through misinformation,” the PRO said.
