Unical denies kidnap kingpin, John Lyon, says he was never our student

The University of Calabar (Unical) has distanced itself from embattled kidnap kingpin, John Ewa, popularly known as John Lyon, saying it was never its student.

Recall that John was arrested last Sunday by operatives of the Nigeria Police in Abuja, the Federal and on interrogation he claimed to have schooled in the university.

Reacting, however, to the viral claims, the higher institution of learning in a terse statement on Wednesday said ‘John’ Lyon’ was never a student of the university, neither did he graduate from there.

The statement issued in Calabar by the Registrar of the institution, Gabriel Egbe, sternly refuted the claims noting that university’s management stumbled on the media report with dissatisfaction and described it as fallacious.

“The said John Ewa was never a student of the university, neither did he graduate from the institution. “We urge members of the public to discount any information linking John Ewa to our prestigious university.”

Police sources said Ewa, who runs Lyon Interior hub as a cover for his criminal activities, is known for his lavish lifestyle and heavy spending at nightclubs in Yenagoa.

There are claims that Ewa masterminded the kidnapping of the sister to former governor Seriake Dickson and top Igbo businessmen. Ewa during interrogation confessed to having been involved in only two kidnap incidents and denied being part of the gang that kidnapped Danjuma.