From Wole Balogun, Ado-Ekiti
For management, staff and students of the Federal Polythenic, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, October 7, 2017, would remain a sad day. It was the day some students of the institution allegedly unleashed mayhem on the campus as a way of expressing their anger over the sudden death of one of them, Vincent Taiwo Oluwafemi. He was a final year student of the Department of Estate Management and Marshal Commander of the Polytechnic Road Safety Corps.
The irate students, allegedly convinced that poor facility of the school’s health centre, led to the death of Oluwafemi, went wild in anger. The institution’s health centre, Security Gate House, signpost, the institution’s bakery, Entrepreneurship and Demonstration Farms, including poultry, and fishponds were razed, looted and destroyed.
Deputy Registrar, Information Department, Adeyemi Adejolu, told Daily Sun: “Only one student of the Federal Polythenic, by name Vincent Oluwafemi, a 200 level, Higher National Diploma (HND) undergraduate of the Estate Management department died on Saturday, October 7, not two. Also, the deceased didn’t die on the school campus as alleged.
“The deceased came to the Federal Polythenic Health Centre on Friday, October 6, reported ill and he was checked and admitted till evening of that Friday, but around 5 or 6pm that day, he was referred to Ekiti State Teaching University (EKSUTH) for further treatment.
“At the teaching hospital, the student was admitted again and placed on treatment that Friday. But on Saturday, somebody who claimed to be his relative went against medical advice and signed for his discharge from the hospital and took him away.
“So, the school management didn’t know where the student was taken to before his death. But the same people who took him out of the hospital sent information to the students on campus that he had died. It was that bad news that resulted into the violent protest leading to the destruction, razing and looting of school facilities.
“Our health centre is accredited and you know what that means, if it is not well-equipped it cannot be fully accredited. So, such claims are unfounded and outright falsehood.
“Another thing is that what medical personnel do elsewhere is to refer a patient whose condition they couldn’t handle to another hospital which was what our health centre did on Friday. The person who took the deceased away from the teaching hospital signed an undertaking with the medical personnel who attended to Oluwafemi and this information can be verified with the Ekiti State Teaching Hospital. The deceased had complained of severe chest pain and not malaria fever as the students also alleged. The hospital actually determined what was wrong with the deceased.”
While efforts to get the bereaved’s family to comment on the position of Adeyemi has yet to yield results as the family were said to be to grieved to attend to the reporter at the time of filing this report, the school authorities released a statement containing its position on the tragic development.
The statement also contained an observation made by a staff of the polytechnic, Mr. Olaiya Adeniyi, who claimed to have witnessed what he called the drama that led to the deceased’s alleged discharge against medical advice at EKSUTH:
“If truly the student that died was the one that was forcefully discharged from EKSUTH, then there was no reason whatsoever for such reaction from our students. The said student was in the same ward with my father; we actually met him in the ward with a lady (a student I guess) and two male students. I didn’t recognise them but the two male students recognised me, came to greet me and introduced themselves.
“The boy (deceased), was visibly in pains and the lady who was with him was so bitter, angry and upset with the doctors and nurses on call because, according to her ‘the medical personnel did not attend to the patient well enough’. The lady was complaining bitterly and so confrontational with both doctors and nurses that security officers were asked to take her out of the ward. An older man, who I guess would be the brother of the deceased and the agitated lady asked for and both signed the undertaking that they were removing the victim contrary to the advice of doctors.
“However, it is noteworthy that one particular doctor was repeatedly warning them that discharging the patient was a suicide mission but they refused to yield. I equally appealed to the lady who was more vocal and determined to get the patient discharged to allow the boy continue with his treatment.
“Unfortunately, they signed the document and took him away.
“The scene was so painful as he was losing blood coming out of his hand from where the drip was prematurely removed.
“I however, want to state again that, If truly the case of this particular student as witnessed by me was the reason behind this reaction of our students, then they were misinformed, misled and it is quite unfortunate.”
The management said in its statement dated October 10, 2017: “The Director of Medical Services, Dr. Olusiji Makinde, confirmed that the health centre was well stocked with necessary equipment, facilities and personnel.
“He added that contrary to negative reports that two students died at the health centre, there has never been any record of the death of any student in the institution’s health centre for all the years the polytechnic had existed.
“He noted that the deceased neither died at the health centre of the polytechnic nor at EKSUTH but in the hands of those who claim to love him and regretted painfully that perhaps he might not have died if he was not forcibly discharged against medical advice from EKSUTH where he had been referred to a day earlier.
“The Chief Security Officer of the polytechnic, Major Amos Faniyan (retd), Director of the Polytechnic Entrepreneurship Centre, A.A. Jimoh and heads of affected Academic Department whose facilities were vandalized looted and damaged, all addressed the meeting with details of the damaged/vandalized and looted items.
“The meeting resolved among other decisions to; suspend the Student’s Union with immediate effect, set up a fact-finding panel to unravel the remote and immediate cause(s) of the crisis.
“Other terms of reference of the panel were; to identify and establish the level of involvement of the dramatis personae which include perpetrators, collaborators and instigators; to identify the affected areas, structures and establish the extent of the damage done;. to bring up the current cost implications of the damaged building, materials and equipment, to make recommendations on how to forestall such future occurrence and bring up preventive measures;to recommend reparation to be charged against students based on the determined cost of the damaged facilities.”