What was meant to be a graduation party turned out to be tragic for four students of the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), who have died, after a party held at their apartment in End in Praise Lodge, Hilltop area of Nsukka.
In a statement released on Thursday, Onah Olisaemeka, president of the UNN chapter of the Pharmaceutical Association of Nigerian Students (PANS); and Obasi Chibuike, the association’s secretary; confirmed that the victims were not pharmacy students, as earlier reported in social media.
The statement said the student leaders visited the hospital where the bodies of the students were deposited in a bid to determine the identities of the deceased but could not identify any of them.
“I personally visited Faith Foundation Hospital, where the bodies of four deceased persons (two boys and two girls) from the incident were deposited at the mortuary,” the statement reads.
“I also personally viewed the deceased, and I can confirm that I did not recognise any of them as a pharmacy student.”
The student leaders said additional enquiries showed that two of the deceased were familiar UNN social media personalities, popularly known for street vlogging (Rymez) and dance content (Golden), respectively.
While appealing to the university community to avoid spreading unverified information and speculation, the student leaders said additional enquiries were ongoing to ascertain the identities of the victims.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by this unfortunate incident,” the statement added.
Speaking in an interview with Cable, Uzoma Maduakonam, editor-in-chief of the association, also confirmed the incident, saying it happened after a house party following the final-year pharmacy students’ final examinations on Tuesday.
“It was after a house party held at the hostel. And the students were immediately rushed to the hospital. But none of them survived it,” she said.
“Though the final-year students of pharmacy wrote their final papers on Tuesday, the president and classmates who visited the hospital couldn’t identify any of the students as their colleagues.”
In the meantime, in a viral WhatsApp message purportedly written by a colleague of one of the dead students , the deaths were attributed to a mixture of hard drugs and alcohol allegedly consumed at the party.
The writer claimed that some of the attendees started collapsing around midnight on Tuesday after consuming the substances.
“It was not poison that killed them; it was a mixture of hard drugs and alcohol,” the message reads.
“The house party was held on Tuesday night, and they started collapsing around midnight because the mixture was very strong.
“Then, a neighbour of the host went to knock on his door yesterday night, but nobody responded. They broke down the door and that was how they found dead bodies everywhere.”
The writer added that one of the victims “is currently in the hospital, and tests confirmed that she had a hard drug overdose in her system”.
But, as of the time of filing this report, the university is yet to issue an official statement on the incident.
