THE COVID-19 pandemic school closure has resulted in the death of another university student, this time, a student of the University of Ibadan (UI), Gbadebo Richard.
The institution’s Union of Campus Journalist (UCJ) published the news of the death of the 300-level student of the Department of European Studies, Faculty of Arts, on its site, www.ucjui.com, on Tuesday, July 28.
It was reported that Gbadebo died on Monday, after an accident at the factory where he worked in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
According to the report, the death of Gbadebo in the factory accident was confirmed through a broadcast signed by the President and Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Faculty of Arts, which read: “It is completely disheartening to announce the death of Mr Gbadebo Richard, a 300-level student from the Department of European Studies. Your fervour to become greater in life was cut short by your sudden death. Death why?”
It was gathered that the deceased, who was working as an operator at an industry, mistakenly slipped into the machine while at work on Monday.
It was gathered that GBadebo, who died in the factory accident, due to the fact that school was not in session, took up a factory job at the detergent-making company at Oluyole area of Ibadan.
A friend of the deceased who does not want her name in print said: “On the day of the incident, he went to pour powder in the machine and I think the nylon got stuck there and as he was trying to pull it out, he got stuck and the machine rolled upon him.
“The other workers didn’t even know initially, by when the powder moved to the packaging department, they saw that it was mixed with blood and they had to rush to the mixing department, where they saw only his leg.”
However, when contacted on the development on phone, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the university, Mr Oladejo Olatunji, said he was not aware of the incident.
He said: “I can’t confirm it; students are not on campus and the Dean of Students Affairs has not even been notified, so I can’t say anything about it.”
Meanwhile, the institution’s Students’ Union Government (SUG), on Wednesday, protested over the death of Gbadebo in front of the company.
This was after they went to the deceased’s family house, who was buried on Wednesday, to commiserate with them, only to be told that since the incident occurred, the company had not done anything, and had been acting as if nothing happened.
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