Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) lost two male students to the pale hands of death last week.

Sources told FIJ that one of the students, simply identified as Tolu, died of an asthma attack on Tuesday, while the second, known as Aluko Samuel, died by suicide on Wednesday.

FIJ learned that the students were both in their second year. Tolu was a student of the mass communication department, while Samuel was an English and literary studies (ELS) student.

READ ALSO: FUOYE Student’s Body Found Hanging in Toilet

HOW TOLU DIED OF ASTHMA ON THE WAY TO HOSPITAL

The school management claimed that Tolu’s death would have been averted if not for the “insensitivity” of the members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU) who went on strike on Monday, March 18, 2024.

FIJ had reported here and here how SSANU and the Non-Academic Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) strike, which was embarked upon to demand withheld salaries from the federal government, grounded activities in some federal universities.

While reacting to Tolu’s death, the school management opined that it would probably not have happened if the strike had not led to the closure of the school clinic.

Professor Abayomi Fasina, the vice chancellor of the university, was quoted by The PUNCH as saying: “We lost a student this [on Tuesday] morning in FUOYE who had asthma because he could not be taken to our clinic because the facility is under lock and key. It is true that students are on holiday, but not all of them are living on campus. It would have been easier for the student to be rushed to our clinic for urgent treatment, but our university gate is locked.”

A student at FUOYE told FIJ that Tolu, who was staying off campus, died while he was being rushed to the hospital on Tuesday.

‘NONE OF HIS INHALERS HELPED’

FIJ learned that Tolu had two inhalers but none of them helped relieve his pain when he had an asthma attack in the early hours of Tuesday.

FIJ’s source at the school said: “He was okay throughout the day before his death. He even played football on Monday, and nothing was wrong. He started complaining of chest pain to his roommate after he went to fetch water around 4 am.

“He told the roommate that they should go to the hospital, but he had to wait for his roommate to finish eating sahur so they could go together. At some point, he went out to find a motorcycle by himself, but he could not get one due to the restrictions on motorcycle movement from 10 pm until the morning.

“While trying to look for the motorcycle, he could not breathe well, so he was shouting for help. That was when his neighbours came outside. They tried using his inhaler, but it failed. They said he had two but none of them was able to subdue the pain, so he collapsed. Then one of the indigenes with a car helped to carry him to the hospital, but he died on the way, and when they got to the hospital, the doctors refused to touch him.”

READ ALSO: FUOYE Students Panic After Discovering Buried Body of Missing Nursing Student

‘A YOUNG BOY SAW SAMUEL’S BODY HUNG IN THE TOILET’

Regarding Samuel, the ELS student who died the day after Tolu’s demise, a source told FIJ that his body was found hanging in the toilet.

The source, who also does not want to be named, said Samuel had gone to charge his phone with his friends when he suddenly left the charging spot.

His body would later be found after a young boy raised the alarm upon seeing him dangling in the toilet around 4 pm on that day.

Abimbola Abatta is a reporter with FIJ writing reports in partnership with Report for the World which matches local newsrooms with talented emerging journalists to report on under-covered issues around the globe.