Tragedy as OAU final-year student killed by reckless driver
By Deborah Oladejo, Osogbo
The Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) community in Ile-Ife, Osun State, is in deep mourning following the tragic death of a final-year student, Esu Rita Ema.
According to a statement by the University’s Public Relations Officer, Abiodun Olarewaju, the student, identified by her Matriculation Number FRM/2019/041, was fatally struck by a Lexus car with Abuja registration number ABJ 427 LQ. The vehicle was driven by one Lasisi Sodiq Segun.
The incident occurred while Rita was crossing the Ife-Ibadan road near the campus gate. She was reportedly on her way to submit her final-year project to her supervisor.
Olarewaju disclosed that officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) responded to the scene, recovering Rita’s body and transporting it to the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex mortuary around 12:35 p.m. Meanwhile, officers of the Nigerian Police have arrested the driver and are conducting further investigations.
In response to the tragic event, the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Adebayo Simeon Bamire, extended his condolences to the deceased’s family through the Dean of Students Affairs, Professor Adeolu Odedire.
Expressing his grief, Bamire remarked, “If it is very sad to lose a domestic animal, how can anyone quantify the loss of a child, especially a grown child who was a young, promising adult with so much potential? A final-year student, no less.”
He appealed to the parents, siblings, family, friends, and classmates of the deceased to find solace in God, adding that, “The Lord will grant us all the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss.”
