Three final year students of the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) in Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, have died, two weeks to their final examinations. SANYA BOLUWATIFE (500-Level Law) reports that one of them, Sodiq Junaid, was knocked down by a hit-and-run driver.
Their graduation is in two weeks, but they died before the day, which, like their colleagues, they had looked forward to. Their death has left, the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) on Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State in the gloom. The late Gbenga Akinwande was a 400-Level Psychology student; the late Sodiq Junaid, the late Mariam Kolade, were 400-level Computer Science and Mass Communication students.
According to some students, the most touching was Sodiq’s death. Unlike Gbenga and Mariam, who died during an illness, Sodiq’s was killed by a hit-and-run driver.
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The late Sodiq was returning from Jumat (Muslims’ Friday prayer) when he was knocked down by the motorist.
According to eyewitnesses, the late Sodiq and his hostel mate, Ismail Oduneye, were on a commercial bike (known as Okada) when the bus came from behind and knocked them off the road. Ismail’s legs were broken; Sodiq died four days after the accident.
Students accused a trader in Ago-Iwoye Market, Iya Foluke, of killing Sodiq. They alleged that the bus, which hit the students, belonged to the trader, an allegation Iya Foluke denied when she heard the rumour.
Ismail, a 400-Level Law student, relived the incident when CAMPUSLIFE visited him after he was discharged from the hospital. He described his escape as “miraculous”, saying he passed out after the accident.
He said: “Sodiq and I were hostel mates. We were returning to our hostel after we observed Jumat prayer. We rode on the same Okada since we were going to the same place. When we got to the car wash close to old Corporative House on mini campus road, the Okada man wanted to negotiate the junction, we were on the side of the road when a bus moving at high speed hit us. The bus was trying to dodge potholes. I lost consciousness. All I know was that I could not get up to walk when I regained consciousness. I saw people everywhere. They carried us to the hospital. It was God that saved me.”
It was gathered that the late Sodiq’s legs were smashed by the bus. A source in the hospital said Sodiq died on Monday from pains. “After he ate on Saturday, he started to wail as he writhed in pain. He didn’t say anything, particularly as he was shouting. It was clear he was in pains,” the source said.
After Sodiq’s burial last Tuesday, his colleagues marched on the Ago-Iwoye Market to harass Iya Foluke. The students alleged that she owns the bus, which knocked down their colleagues. There was chaos at the market as the woman exchanged words with the students.
Speaking with CAMPUSLIFE, a student, who gave his name simply as Oluwaseun, said: “Students, who saw the bus that killed Sodiq identified it and said it was owned by Iya Foluke. This is why we moved en masse to the market after the burial to see the bus. We have the responsibility as deceased’s colleagues and friends to meet with Iya Foluke, who, we heard, owns the bus that killed Sodiq.
“When we demanded to see the bus, Iya Foluke created a scene and rained curses on us. She could not show us her own bus. She was just raining curses, saying we will all die too. We have reported the matter at the Ago-Iwoye Police Divisional Headquarters. The police promised they would produce the bus and the driver. But, we don’t trust the policemen. The matter, we fear, may be swept under the carpet.”
When CAMPUSLIFE visited Ago-Iwoye Police Divisional Headquarters, an officer, Adio Alalade, a Chief Superintendent (CSP), said the matter was not “reported officially”. He declined to speak further on it.
The news of Sodiq’s death threw the Faculty of Science into mourning. The Faculty’s president, Temitope Balogun, declared last Friday a lecture-free day in his honour. Paying tribute to him, Temitope said: “We dined, played and read together. You were looking forward to your final examination, just as we have a few weeks to round off our four-year study. But, death has deprived you of graduation joy and snatched you away from us. We will always remember you.”
They were still mourning Sodiq, news also broke of the death of Mariam and Gbenga. CAMPUSLIFE gathered that they died during illness. Mariam died on June 7. Her close friend, who did not give her name, said: “Mariam was sick, but she did not have transport fare to go home. I saw her briefly when she came to my hostel and asked me for money, which I could not give her because I was broke. Her dad and aunt sent money to go home. That was the last time I saw her. I learned of her death on Tuesday.”
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