A student (name not disclosed) enrolled in the Distance Learning program at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, has tragically passed away after being electrocuted while attempting to recover a ball from a nearby compound.
According to the university’s Public Relations Officer, Abiodun Olanrewaju, the deceased was engaged in a football game with peers when the ball landed in a neighboring compound.
While trying to retrieve the ball, the student was fatally electrocuted after coming into contact with an exposed live wire during his exit.
“It is unfortunate that we recorded an incident that was not too palatable yesterday where we lost a prominent youngster. One of our CDL students who was aspiring to come to the university after the completion of the programme.
“Report had it that they were playing football in the evening and the ball fell into a compound that was fenced and unknown to the young boy, he jumped into the fence because he was the one that played the ball into the compound and it was a rule that anybody who played the ball into the compound will go to retrieve it.
“In compliance with the rule, the boy went in there and we were told that that was the first time the boy would play with them. So, he went in there, retrieved the ball, and threw it out to his colleagues, but when he wanted to come out, he climbed the fence but unknowingly put his hand in a life wire and got electrocuted.
“It was when his colleagues felt he should have come back to the pitch that they went to check and saw that he was there shivering. They rushed to him, one of them picked a stick and removed the life wire from his hand, and rushed him to the facility at the Center for Distance Learning in the university.
“They said he was brought in dead and they took him to another hospital where they said the boy was already dead. The Director of the CDL, Professor Femi Koya had already contacted the parents to relate the unfortunate incident to them. We are sincerely sorry for what happened, and we pray that God Almighty will grant the parents, the university, his friends, and colleagues the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.” Olanrewaju said.
A Gentle Reminder: Every obstacle is a stepping stone, every morning; a chance to go again, and those little steps take you closer to your dream.
Nnamdi Okoli
