Students at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, staged a protest on Thursday over the death of their colleague, Ifeoluwa Ayodele, a 100-level student of Agricultural Economics and Farm Management. The protest was sparked by the alleged poor healthcare services at the university’s health center, which the students claim led to Ayodele’s death.
According to eyewitnesses, Ayodele, who suffered from asthma, was rushed to the health center on Wednesday afternoon after experiencing difficulty breathing. However, the students alleged that the health center staff delayed attending to him because he didn’t have his identity card. The students claimed that the delay led to Ayodele’s death, which was confirmed by the health center staff around 10 pm.
The students, who were angered by the development, gathered at the campus gate on Thursday morning to protest the poor healthcare services at the university. They carried placards and chanted slogans, demanding better healthcare services and a restructuring of the health
An eyewitness named Nwankwo, said during the protests, “We are not happy with the services at the health center. This is the third time in three months that a student has died due to their negligence. We want a change.”
The Vice Chancellor of the university, Olusola Kehinde, addressed the protesters, providing an account of what happened at the health center. According to the VC, Kehinde, Ayodele was brought to the health center in a critical condition, and the staff tried to resuscitate him but failed. He denied allegations of negligence by the health center staff, saying that they did their best to save Ayodele’s life.
The Vice Chancellor also said, “I spoke to the matron and doctor this morning, and they said that they checked his pulse and found that there was no pulse; they checked his heartbeat, and there was no beat. The eye was already dilated, and immediately the doctor told the nurse that this was dead on arrival.”