The management of the University of Ibadan (UI) has confirmed the death of Aminu Zubair, a lecturer in the institution’s mathematics department.
Olatunji Oladejo, the university’s director of communication, who confirmed the incident, said Zubair did not commit suicide.
Oladejo said the lecturer died due to suffocation from the fumes of the inferno that razed his residence on the campus.
According to him, the whole building would have been consumed by the fire if not for the timely intervention of the school’s fire service.
He added that the deceased had resigned his from the department before his demise.
He, however, did not state the cause of the fire but expressed condolences to the family of the deceased.
“He was a staff in the Department of Mathematics and had resigned before the ugly incident happened,” Oladejo said.
“It wasn’t a suicide attempt as he was caught up in the inferno at Philipson Road, where he resides, and couldn’t escape.
“If not for our Fire Service men, who got there at the right time the whole building would have been engulfed in fire completely.
“It was only that particular room that was badly affected, he could not get out and he died out of suffocation from the fumes of the fire.
“He worked in the department of Mathematics before his exit; he was a lecturer but had resigned and was no more in the service of the University of Ibadan.
“However, he was given a place on compassionate grounds pending the time he would move out.
“There are documents that he had resigned; he was no longer in the service of the university before the ugly incident, which is quite unfortunate.
“The management commiserate with the family on the unfortunate death of Mr Zubair.”
