A student at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) from the Department of Linguistics and African Languages in Ile-Ife, Osun State who has been identified as Heritage Ajibola on Wednesday gave up the ghost after falling into a soakaway in her hostel.
She was stretching clothing on a line with her companions when she slipped into a hole going into the soakaway and became trapped, says eyewitnesses who were present at the time.
They reported that she had already fallen far into the soakaway before her friends could call for help.
Africa Today News, New York gathered from eye witnesses that, ‘It took almost an hour before help came and even with the presence of maintenance team and the Osun State Fire Service, it took up to half an hour before they could get her out of the soakaway.’
They also revealed that termites had consumed the wood used to cover the soakaway, which was later ascertained to be the cause of the collapse.
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The incident has also been validated by the university’s administration.
According to Abiodun Olarewaju, the university’s Public Relations Officer, the student Ajibola Heritage Ayomikun was a resident of BVER hostel, one of the privately owned hostels in the Student’s Village.
The institution’s management was saddened by the unfortunate situation, according to the OAU spokesperson, who said that when the information reaches management, it quickly mobilised firefighters from the university, Osun State, and the OAU Teaching Hospital, who worked together to get the student out.
Olarewaju reported that she was conveyed to the OAU Teaching Hospitals Complex after being retrieved from the hole and was declared dead.
According to him, the university Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Eyitope Ogunbodede, who led the emergency responders to the area, appealed to the students to be calm and law-abiding, and said that the police had been informed about the situation and that investigations have begun.
Ogunbodede, who described the situation as unfortunate and inexcusable, promised to investigate the circumstances surrounding the student’s death and impose appropriate punishments on those involved or found accountable.
Heritage’s death, according to the leadership of the OAU student union, was a horrendous and preventable death.
The deceased would have survived if the soakaway system had been properly constructed and covered, according to a statement signed by Olayiwola Folahan Festus, President-elect, Odewale Samuel Damilare, Secretary General-elect, and Ogunperi Taofeek Olalekan (Tao), Public Relations Officer-elect.
They said that, despite the large sums of money paid in accommodation by students, their lives were still endangered in the educational atmosphere.
While the union demanded speedy justice for the deceased, it insisted that doing so would prevent a recurrence.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK