The Nation Newspaper

Tag: OOU

  • Nine OOU students injured in road accident

    Nine OOU students injured in road accident

    NINE students of the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) in Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, have been injured in a road accident, about four month after the death of nine of their colleagues in similar circumstances.

    The accident occurred on Old Corperative Road in Ago-Iwoye last Thursday when the victims were returning to their off-campus hostels in Oru-Ijebu. They were travelling in a 14-seater bus.

    It was gathered that the accident was caused by a brake failure, which made the vehicle to skid off its lane and crash into a roadside carwash.

    Sympathisers rushed to the scene to rescue the occupants of the bus. The driver, it was learnt, ran away immediately after the incident. Occupants of the vehicle included nine students. No life was lost.

    •Adewunmi’s fractured leg
    •Adewunmi’s fractured leg

    CAMPUSLIFE gathered that three of the injured students were referred to the OOU Teaching Hospital in Sagamu. They are Adewunmi Adekanbi, a 400-Level Applied Zoology student, Elizabeth Olawunmi Olapelumi, a 100-Level Mass Communication student, and Yetunde Ogunsawe, also in 100-Level Mass Communication.

    Other occupants suffered minor injuries and had been discharged from the hospital.

    Elizabeth, who spoke to our correspondent on her sickbed, recalled how the accident happened. She said: “We were all going back to our hostels in Oru-Ijebu after lectures. The bus left from the school, but we got to the main road, the driver increased the speed. As he tried to overtake a vehicle in front, he did not know there was a car moving across the other side of the road to a car wash. He tried to apply the brake but it failed. Then, the bus crashed into the car wash.”

    Adewunmi, who went for her department’s Cultural Day, attributed the incident to the carelessness of the driver, saying: “The driver was carried away in discussion with a man sitting beside him. The next thing we saw was a crash.”

    Reacting, students said the latest accident should serve as a reminder to officials of road safety agencies and the school management to ensure that vehicles plying the campus were in good condition.

    Last month, a similar accident occurred when an 18-seater bus had a brake failure and crashed into the school main gate.

  • Anxiety as grieving OOU students seize factory, Lagos – Ore expressway

    Anxiety as grieving OOU students seize factory, Lagos – Ore expressway

    Thousands of grieving Olabisi Onabqnjo University (OOU) students seized the Sagamu – Ilisan stretch of the Lagos – Ore expressway as they stormed the scene of horrific accident which claimed the lives of a dozen of their colleagues last Friday.

    Vehicular movement came to abrupt halt on both lanes of the dual carriage way – hordes of travelers were turned back even as they threatened to hauled stones at any truck carrying container.

    The students who arrived in four long buses and about three cars had converged to pray at the scene for the repose of their colleagues but emotions took the better part of them as they cried, yelled and cursed the driver that brought the untimely death on the affected students.

    Tens of Policemen, members of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and operatives of the Ogun state’s traffic agency, TRACE, made frantic efforts to rein them in but with minimal success.

    Seizing both arms of the expressway at the Ikenne -Ilisan stretch of it, they marched to the site of a factory beside the expressway few meters away from the accident, which they suspect to own the container that crushed students to death.

    The company has since shut down momentarily but armed policemen stationed at the gate and are prevented them from advancing but following pressure from students, the steel gate gave way, and they surged into the factory in their thousands.

    It would be recalled that over a dozen of students of the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) Ago – Iwoye, were crushed to death and others gravely injured on Friday when a container fell on a passenger bus conveying them.

    The 20-feet container from a moving truck came off when the driver was driving àgainst traffic and in a bid to avoid an obstruction at the Sagamu stretch of the Lagos/Benin expressway, the load tipped  and dropped lethally atop of the bus’ roof.

    The weighty container press – pinned the bus to the ground in the accident, which occurred few meters away from the gate of a plastic manufacturing company situating near the Ilisha Remo junction.

    The vehicle was a truck marked (LAGOS) BDG 779 XE and a Toyota Haiace passenger bus bearing (Lagos) XV 311 MUS.

    It was learnt that the OOU students were travelling to Lagos state for the weekend when they met their untimely death.

     

  • OOU students forcefully collect colleagues’ corpses from morgue

    OOU students forcefully collect colleagues’ corpses from morgue

    Commotion enveloped the premises of the Ade Maternity Home, Sagamu, on Saturday as scores of grieving students of the Olabisi Onabanjo University(OOU) forcefully removed the corpses of their collegues from the hospital’s morgue.

    The Nation gathered that the angry students threatened to make the hospital uncomfortable should it insist on collecting N20,000 per corpse before the dead students would be released to their families.

    The enraged students stormed the private hospital’s morgue and evacuated their dead colleagues forcefully without paying and moved them to the morbid anatomy unit of the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital(OOUTH) Sagamu.

    The Police had a hectic time trying to keep the students under control.

    Head of the teaching hospital’s Morbid Anatomy and Histopathology Department, Dr Deji Agboola, told The Nation that after combing private morgues in Sagamu, the remains of the affected students were located at Ade Maternity Home by noon.

    He said the angry students refused to yield to the demand for payment by the hospital before the corpses of their colleagues could be released.

    The Nation contacted Ade Maternity Home and a man in charge of its morgue who identified himself as Bayo Fasanya said that the corpses were that of the students of OOU and have all been taken away.

    He noted that calm had return at the hospital but rued that nobody had yet paid him.

    He told the reporter that the Sagamu Area Command of the Nigeria Police Force had said he should let him see the morgue’s service bill when it is ready.

    Earlier on Saturday, Agboola, an associate professor and who also doubles as the Chairman of the OOU branch of the Academic Staff Union of Universities(ASUU), said grieving relatives had initially besieged the OOUTH, thinking the victims were kept there.

    Agboola added that he, the Head of the Students Affairs and Chief Security Officer of the institution decided to comb private morgues in Sagamu in search of the remains of the student – victims of the accident until they were found at Ade Maternity morgue.

    Over a dozen students of OOU were crushed to death and others gravely injured on Friday at Sagamu corridor of Lagoss – Ore expressway when an unlatched 20-feet container from a moving truck came off and fell on the roof of a psssenger bus conveying them.

    The weighty container press – pinned the bus to the ground killing the passengers in the accident which involved a truck marked (LAGOS) BDG 779 XE and a Toyota Haiace passenger bus bearing (Lagos) XV 311 MUS.

    It was learnt that the OOU students were travelling to Lagos state for the weekend when they met their untimely death.

  • OOU accident: relatives search for corpses

    OOU accident: relatives search for corpses

    A curious twist has crept into the death of dozen of students of the Olabisi Onabanjo University(OOU), in an expressway accident on Friday as grieving parents, relatives and friends are yet to locate their remains, 19 hours after the incident.

    Many of them who had besieged the morgue of the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital(OOUTH), Sagamu, to see the bodies of the victims said to have been deposited there were advised to search elswwhere.

    Head of the Teaching hospital’s Morbid Anatomy and Histopathology Department, Dr Deji Agboola, told The Nation that he had checked twice and found that corpses of students said to have died in an accident were not kept at OOUTH.

    Agboola, an associate professor who also doubles as the Chairman of the OOU branch of the Academic Staff Union of Universities(ASUU), said grieving relatives had been coming since Friday following wrong media report that the dead were deposited at the OOUTH.

    He said the wrong information is already creating problem as it tends to leave the impression that they are hidding something from the relatives or friends of the victims.

    Agboola added that he, the Head of the Students Affairs and Chief Security Officer of the institution have, Saturday morning, began to comb private morgues in Sagamu in search of the remains of the student – victims of the accident.

    As at 8:20am Saturday morning, he said they have now found out that the victims were deposited at the Fakoya Hospital, Sagamu, but requires the help of the hospital management to ascertain the identities of those kept in the private hospital’s morgue.

    Students of OOU were crushed to death and others gravely injured on Friday at Sagamu corridor of Lagoss – Ore expressway when an unlatched 20-feet container from a moving truck came off and fell on the roof of a psssenger bus conveying them.

    The weighty container press – pinned the bus to the ground killing the passengers in the accident which involved a truck marked (LAGOS) BDG 779 XE and a Toyota Haiace passenger bus bearing (Lagos) XV 311 MUS.

    It was learnt that the OOU students were travelling to Lagos state for the weekend when they met their untimely death.

  • Scores of OOU Students killed  in Lagos – Ore expressway accident

    Scores of OOU Students killed  in Lagos – Ore expressway accident

    Over a dozen of students of the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) Ago – Iwoye, were crushed to death k and others gravely injured on Friday when a container fell on a passenger bus conveying them.

    The Nation gathered that the unlatched 20-feet container from a moving truck came off when the driver was driving àgainst traffic and in a bid to avoid an obstruction at the  Sagamu stretch of the Lagos/Benin expressway, the load tipped  and dropped lethally atop of the bus’ roof.

    The weighty container press – pinned the bus to the ground in the accident, which occurred few meters away from the gate of a plastic manufacturing company situating near the Ilisha Remo junction.

    The vehicles were a truck marked (LAGOS) BDG 779 XE and a Toyota Haiace passenger bus bearing (Lagos) XV 311 MUS.

    It was learnt that the OOU students were travelling to Lagos state for the weekend when they met their untimely death.

    The Ijebu – Ode Commander of the Ogun state Traffic Management and Compliance Agency (TRACE), Tommy Hamzat told reporters that the driver of the container laden drove against the traffic.

    Hamzat added that the wrong driving made it difficult for the passenger bus driver to notice the approaching truck and eventually collided with it.

    He explained that the container from the truck fell on the bus which caused the death of the passengers.

    He said: “I was coming from Sagamu and saw the accident, I have to hurriedly parked my car, ran there to see if the passengers could be rescued but unfortunately all the occupants were dead including the driver.

    “The bus is facing Lagos, though; I don’t know where it was coming from. The container truck with no load in it was coming from Sagamu side but was driving against the traffic and that resulted in the collision, which eventually claimed the lives of the innocent people.”

    Also, the TRACE Commander in Sagamu, Kehinde Arode, who confirmed death of 12 people, said one person was badly injured.

    Arode however, said that the injured person has been taken to the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital in Sagamu, while the remains of the dead have also been deposited at the same hospital.

     

  • OOU reopens

    OOU reopens

    The Governing Council of Olabisi Onabanjo University Ago-Iwoye has ordered the immediate reopening of the university.

    Lectures start today to continue the suspended 2013/2014 academic session.

    The university was closed by the management to forstall breakdown of peace following students’ negative reaction to the state government’s reduction of the university’s fees.

  • OOU reopens Sept 29

    The Governing Council of Olabisi Onabanjo University(OOU) Ago-Iwoye, has directed that the university should be re – opened today(Monday) for continuation of academic activities.

    In a statement by Niyi Oduwole, Head, Corporate Affairs Division, Vice-Chancellor’s Office, OOU, lectures are to start on Monday, September, 29, 2014 to continue the suspended 2013/2014 academic session.

    The university was shut by the management to for stall breakdown of public peace as a result of students’ violent reaction to the reduction in tuition fees by the state Government.

    All returning students are expected to sign an undertaking to be of good behaviour while an investigating panel shall be set up to look at the immediate and remote causes of the disturbances.

    The Panel would also suggest ways of preventing such in the future as well as  recommend appropriate sanctions for anyone that might have violated his matriculation oath.

    All returning students are to check the university website for details of fees payment guidelines for the session.

  • OOU loses two undergrads

    Students of the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) in Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State have expressed shock over the death of two female students. Busayo Fayomi, 400-Level Medicine, and John Ibidun Anthonia, a final year student of Banking and Finance, who died of undisclosed ailments.

    The students died at the time their colleagues were agitating for school fee reduction and when the campus was under lock and key because of protest.

    The late Busayo’s friend, Omotola Folowosele, wrote on her Facebook page: “I can’t still believe this is true. My eyes are still filled with tears. The news of your death is sad. I cannot just open your Facebook page. I can still remember our last discussion. How will you be taken away by death just like that. Apart from you being my school baby, you were just always there for me. I was only waiting for you to be inducted as a medical doctor, not waiting to see your death certificate. Hah! Iku o se yi tan (death, you have done your worst). Rest in peace, my friend.”

    Gbemisola Ogunyemi also wrote on the late Busayo’s Facebook wall: “You have excessively been on my mind lately. I called you severally, but your phone was switched off. I left you a text which I am sure you didn’t have the opportunity to read. But, I got the sad telephone call tonight and I was told you are no more. I looked at your pictures, tears flowed endlessly. You were my sister and confidant. I found strength in you when I felt I was weak. No more will I hear your laughter; no more will we sit under guava tree to chat and no more play. I will never forget you; I will always remember you. I shall cherish the memories I have with you. Death is a thief, stealing one of my life treasures. The whole world will miss you because you made many smile. Sleep well Busayo.”

    Adewuyi Ayobami, the late Ibidun’s course mate, said: “I was shocked when I got the news but death is inevitable. My prayer is that, untimely death will never be the portion of any of us anymore.”

     

  • Understanding the OOU crisis

    SIR: One does not need a star-gazer to know that it is the elements within the political opposition that are responsible for the violent protests by some students of  the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), which have now resulted in the closure of the institution by the state government.

    It is on record that the students of OOU were having their normal classes before the announcement of reduction of school fees by about 60% penultimate Tuesday by the state government.

    Rationally and expectedly, all the students of tertiary institutions in Ogun state reportedly erupted into spontaneous jubilation. Twenty-four hours later, news filtered to the public that the students of the tertiary schools in Ogun state under the umbrella of the National Association of Nigerian Students were organising a “Thank You” rally at the Governor’s Office penultimate Thursday.

    Sensing that the governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, has scored a major political point, having not only abolished his predecessor’s template of yearly increase in school fees of tertiary students but now reducing school fees payable by 60%, the opposition moved fast.

    So, they reasoned thus: “If we allow Amosun to savour another moment of glory, having introduced free primary and secondary education, which we could not do during our tenure, then we are done for.”

    They mobilised a handful of students of OOU, led by one former ex-officio of the school’s Students’ Union Government (who is no longer a student of the school), to counter the solidarity rally of the overwhelming majority of the students in support of the current administration by demanding further reduction of the school fees and their retroactive implementation.

    Of course, they were no match for the majority in terms of the success of the rally. Then they did the unexpected the next day – violence. They destroyed property and valuables worth millions of naira.

    The government has the paramount responsibility of maintaining law and order. In particular, it needs to protect the majority of OOU students, who, like their counterparts in other higher institutions of learning in the state, saw the 60% reduction as a huge and unprecedented gesture on the part of Amosun, for which they are very grateful and knew the politics behind the current agitation by a few of their colleagues.

    I urge the law enforcement agents to fish out this political and violent few among the OOU students and make them face the wrath of the law so that normal academic activities can resume without much delay.

    • Vincent Adeleke

    Ijebu-Igbo, Ogun State

     

  • Ogun shuts varsity over threat to peace

    Ogun shuts varsity over threat to peace

    To forestall a breakdown of law and order, the Ogun State Government has ordered the closure of the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago Iwoye.

    The government also advised all parents whose wards are students of the university to call them to order, as the government will not tolerate any act capable of disturbing the peace being enjoyed by the people of the State.

    In a statement signed by Barrister Taiwo Adeoluwa, Secretary to State Government, it said that the decision to close the university was taken in the overall interest of peace and order, as the students of the university have continued to issue threats, while rejecting all entreaties and concessions made by the government on their various demands concerning the recently announced reduction of school fees.

    After extensive consultations with relevant stakeholders, the state government on August 12 announced reductions in the school fees by 61 percent in all the 10 state-owned tertiary institutions.

    The government also abolished the indigene/non-indigene dichotomy in the school fees regime and announced the 2014-2015 academic session as commencement period for the policy.

    However, while students in nine of the ten institutions commended the government for its decisions, OOU students insisted that the new school fees regime should take effect from the 2013/2014 academic session and that the fees should be further reduced.

    The students premised their position on the fact that they are currently running the 2013-2014 academic session which will end in January.

    OOU students subsequently staged a violent demonstration in Abeokuta, the state capital on August 15 until the personal intervention of the governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, which restored normalcy.

    But intelligence report available to the state government later has it that student leaders of the institution were alleged to have sent text messages around  urging their colleagues ‘to get ready for action’.

    Security reports indicated that because the students are allegedly acting under external influence, no concession made by the state government will be satisfactory to them.

    “Consequently, we have no option than to order the immediate closure of all the campuses of Olabisi Onabanjo University to protect the students and other residents of the state and their property. We urge all parents to impress on their wards the need to maintain peace in the interest of all”, Adeoluwa stated.