BREAKING: DELSU Reacts To Alleged Suicide On Campus

By Azino Iboma/Paul Masigwe

The management of Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka, is yet to confirm the identity of a young man found dead in one of its lecture halls on Friday.

Reliable sources within DELSU said the university was still consulting with students and other members of the university community for a possible identification of the deceased, who is believed to have committed suicide judging by the items found around him.

When our reporters visited the scene, an uncompleted auditorium beside the Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences located at Site 3 of the university’s Abraka campus, the area was sealed off by men of the Nigerian Police with a pocket of crowd hovering around the premises to witness the unfortunate incident.

Rumours had earlier suggested that the deceased had braided hair and took his life by drinking sniper, but the photographs of the deceased obtained by DELSU Echo suggested otherwise.

A careful observation of the photographs (partly censored above because of the sensitive nature of the matter), the deceased’s hair, though full, was not braided, and no can of sniper was seen around the premises.

Instead, a can of NCP (a liquid antiseptic), a can of fanta and a sachet of Action Bitter were easily seen around the scene.

Also, frothing saliva was seen dripping from the deceased’s mouth and nostrils.

“We don’t know whether he is a student, because it has not been confirmed that he is a student”, said a management source familiar with the matter.

“We are yet to identify him to confirm that he is actually a student. Students, for now, are not around; they are on holidays.

“No ID card (was found on him) for now, and we are trying to scan all the faces in the university database, but so far we have not succeeded in identifying him”.

Confirming this position, another reliable source (who preferred not to be named pending the school’s investigation) said the university has contacted many students on the matter for possible identification of the deceased, but the search has been unsuccessful.

“He doesn’t look like a student, no student has been able to identify the person”, the source told DELSU Echo in a telephone interview on Saturday.

The source further confirmed that the corpse has been deposited in a morgue by the police and investigations are still ongoing.

Meanwhile, the leadership of the Student’s Union Government (SUG) at Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka, has questioned a number of charges included in students’ school fees.

In a letter addressed to the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Andy Egwunyenga, the union specifically demanded the immediate reconsideration and outright removal of eight items from the school fees breakdown “to ease the financial burden on students and prevent any unrest among the student body”.

This request is coming at time when the SUG has also vowed to take drastic measures to tame the growing harsh effect of the Nigerian economy on students.

In a tersely worded statement jointly signed by the SUG President, Comr. Augustine Onovughegor and Secretary-General, Comr. Etim Bassey, the union leaders said they would mobilise students to seek the intervention of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori on the unabating plight of students in DELSU.