STUDENTS of the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) held a protest on Tuesday over the death of one of their colleagues, Adeyinka Daniel.
Daniel, a 200 level student of the Department of Software Engineering, was killed in an auto crash on Monday night.
The students blocked all entrances into the institution, causing gridlock on the Akure/Ilesha road while accusing the school management of contributing to his death.
They claimed that security guards on duty had thwarted efforts to save the deceased due to protocols they were made to go through while the victims were being rushed to the hospital.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the institution Adegbenro Adebanjo said the incident occurred at about 10 pm on Monday.
He said the student was initially admitted at a private hospital and was referred to the Federal Medical Centre, Owo when his condition continued to worsen.
“At that time, the parents of the student and some relations had joined him at the private hospital, and it was decided, because of time, to bring him to the university health centre.
“The deceased student was brought to the FUTA Health Centre at 3: 20 am and the doctor on duty promptly attended to him in the car of the parents,” he said.
He described the death as regrettable and said the university had ordered a review of the incident to ascertain the circumstances leading to it.
Confirming the incident to The ICIR, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the State Command Tee-Leo Ikoro said three others were involved in the accident and were receiving treatment in an undisclosed hospital.
“There was an accident involving some students of FUTA. One of them died on the spot, the others are in the hospital receiving treatment. We do hope that they recover,” he said.
He urged students to be careful and bear in mind the security situation of the country.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.