The sudden death of another student at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, today (Saturday), has sparked a controversy between students and management of the institution.
The 300-level Microbiology student, Omotola Akorede Kayode, was said to have slumped and died during a football match among fresh students of the department and others.
Last month, a student of the university, Kolapo Olowoporoku, committed suicide for allegedly failing some courses.
Ton Omotola,s case, the school and students have, however, disagreed over the circumstance of Omotola’s passage.
According the the students, he died at the institution’s health centre after he slumped during a football match but the authorities said he was brought in dead.
A report in ‘The Punch’ quoted some of the students saying that Omotola would have survived but for the poor services at the institution’s health centre.
“A classmate of the deceased, who simply identified himself as Victor, explained that barely 20 minutes into the football match held at OAU Sports Complex on Friday, Omotola suddenly started experiencing difficulty in breathing.
Victor said, “The match started around 9:15am. There was no physical contact between him and another player. He just slumped. He was quickly rushed to the OAU health centre. He gave up the ‘ghost’ about four minutes after he was rushed there.
“The insinuation that Omotola died before getting to the health centre was incorrect. He was even given something like a drip. He wasn’t attended to properly, he needed oxygen at that particular moment, but I think that was not available,” the report said.
But in a statement by the Public Relations Officer of the University, Abiodun Olarewaju, the varsity insisted that Omotola had died before he got to the clinic.
Olanrewaju said, “Oone of our students, a part 3 student in the Department of Microbiology, OMOTOLA, Akorede Kayode, died suddenly on Friday, 17th of May, 2019.
“After slumping, he was rushed to the University Health Centre where he was confirmed dead on arrival. All measures to resuscitate him proved abortive.
“The management hereby commiserates with the parents, family, classmates, colleagues and the entire University Community over this irreparable loss.”
