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Students of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), have accused the university’s medical officials of alleged negligence which led to the tragic death of a student, Ayodele Israel.
Ayodele, a 100-level Agricultural Economics and Farm Management (AEFM) student at the College of Agricultural Management and Rural Development (COLAMRUD) was said to have died of asthmatic attack.
The students during a protest on Thursday demanded justice over Ayodele’s death.
They claimed that the campus medical staff failed in their duties, which they believe directly contributed to the tragic outcome.
In response, Olasunkanmi Olajide, the Acting Head of the Directorate of Public Relations, in a statement, denied any culpability on the part of the medical staff.
Olajide while confirming the student’s death attributed the unfortunate outcome to the actions of Ayodele’s friends, whom he accused of handling the situation unprofessionally.
According to the statement titled “Tragic Loss of Ayodele Israel Ifeoluwa: FUNAAB’s Response and Actions,” Ayodele suffered a severe asthmatic attack while off-campus.
Olajide said, “In an unprofessional attempt to help, his friends inserted a spoon into his mouth and poured water on him to resuscitate him. Subsequently, efforts were made to find a motorcycle (Okada) to transport him to the University Health Centre.”
He noted that upon Ayodele’s arrival at the health center, medical staff, including doctors, a matron, and nurses, attended to him immediately.
However, they determined that Ayodele had already passed away before reaching the health center and acknowledged that the outcome might have been different if an ambulance was called instead of resorting to an Okada for transportation.
It was gathered that Prof. Babatunde Kehinde, the Vice-Chancellor of FUNAAB, personally met with Ayodele’s parents to express condolences and offer support.
The university has also constituted a committee to thoroughly investigate the incident, aiming to determine the immediate and underlying causes and to understand the circumstances to prevent future occurrences.
