Samuel Oladipupo writes on the rising incidence of deaths in avoidable circumstances walking through higher institutions in the country.
There is cause for concern as not less than 10 undergraduates in various higher institutions in Nigeria died this April alone. None was killed by a disease. None was involved in a road or air crash and neither did any fall victim of terrorism. Rather, they died of causes that many would say are avoidable.
While no one, especially those in positions of authority, has said anything fundamental about it, the fact is that, one after the other, the undergraduates died one after the other within three weeks. Some died in separate instance, while others died in groups.
One of the latest of the curious deaths is that of Kolapo Olowoporoku, then a student of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-ife, who committed suicide after repeatedly failing some courses.
Olowoporoku was an ‘extra year’ Computer Science student who ought to have graduated two sessions ago but was delayed as a result of two outstanding courses.
It was gathered that the deceased, who served as the general secretary of his departmental association in 2016, swallowed a poisonous substance, which led to his death on Sunday.
Two days after, a student of Benue State University (BSU) Makurdi, simply identified as Jeff, passed away after what was said to be marathon sex with a girlfriend.
Jeff was a student of Library and Information Science in the institution.
It was gathered that Jeff complained of abdominal pain after the sex session with the girlfriend and died later in a hospital.
Many internet users are of the opinion that the deceased might have taken drugs to boost his performance which later led to his death.
Prior to that, two 100-level students of the same Benue State University drowned in the River Benue.
The deceased students, a male and a female, whose names were given as Adakole Christopher and Mson Emmanuella, were said to have gone with some friends to play football by the river side behind the school when the incident occurred.
It was gathered that Christopher was from the Computer Science Department while Emmanuella was from the College of Health Sciences in the same school.
However, the next day, one of the victims, Christopher, was found floating on the river.
A twist was introduced when the remains of the deceased student was immediately buried at the river bank while sympathisers continued to flood his family house in Makurdi to condole with the family.
Furthermore, tragedy again struck at Sunshine Lodge, Ihiagwa, one of the communities close to the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), Imo State, on April 13, when Ugochukwu Kingsley, Onyinyechi Okafor, Aka Uche, and another one simply identified as Richard collapsed and died.
Initially, there was confusion concerning where they were studying, but Polytechnic, Nekede, Owerri, in Imo State authorities later confirmed that all but Aka were its students.
Aka, who was the only female among them, was a student of the FUTO
They were said to be involved in a sex orgy after allegedly taking a mixture of tramadol, codeine and vodka.
Two of them, according to an eyewitness account, died instantly while Aka and another male student were found unconscious.
They were immediately rushed to the Federal Medical Centre Owerri where they were admitted at the Intensive Care Unit.
The remaining two also died later.
In another development, an undergraduate of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, whose name was given as Pauline, was found dead in the first week of April.
Her eyes and underwear were reportedly missing from her corpse found at the Commissioners’ Quarters behind the Anambra State Government House.
The corpse of the 300 level student of the university was dropped by the roadside by an unknown car.
He added, “The true cause of her death has not been discovered, but the corpse has been taken away by the police.
“She was found dead without her underwear and eyes at a junction before Demonstration Primary and Secondary School, Commissioners’ Quarters, Awka, close to GRA Phase 3 Agu Awka.
“This is one in many deaths recorded among students of the university. My advice is for these girls to be mindful of the kind of men they go out with; they should be mindful of these men in flashy cars in town because all that glitters is not gold.”
The rate at which the undergraduates died in recent times has stirred up concern among many people in the country. The world over, young people seem to be prone to death more than ever before. According to the American College Health Association , for instance, suicide rate among young adults has tripled since the 1950s and suicide is currently the second most common cause of deaths among undergraduate students.
The tragedy might, indeed, be deeper than that. For just a few days ago, a Computer Science student of the Ogun State Institute of Technology, OGITECH, Igbesa, Adewara Damilola Blessings, was said to have killed herself. The ND 2 student committed suicide for unconfirmed reasons, leaving her colleagues to be bemoaning her hurried passage on social media.
Also, phenomenal.com.ng learnt that a student died about two weeks ago at the University of Lagos.
