The administration of Obafemi Awolowo University, located in Ile-Ife, Osun State, declared on Thursday the death of Esu Rita Ema, a final-year student in the Department of Foreign Languages. It was stated that Sodiq, a driver, killed Ema near the university’s campus. The institution reported that the deceased student, who had the matriculation number FRM/2019/041, “was knocked down and killed by a Lexus car with Abuja Registration Number ABJ 427 LQ driven by one LASISI Sodiq Segun.” This information was released by the university’s public relations officer, Abiodun Olanrewaju.
Olanrewaju went on to say that the student was crossing the Ife-Ibadan road close to the university gate when the tragedy occurred. The student was reportedly on her way to the college to turn in her final year project to her supervisor. The statement said, in part, that “at about 12:35 pm, members of the Federal Road Safety Corps came to recover the student’s corpse and deposited it at the mortuary of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital complex while the officers of the Nigerian Police arrested the driver for investigation and further necessary action.”
Through Prof. Adeolu Odedire, Dean of Student Affairs, OAU Vice-Chancellor Prof. Simeon Bamire has issued a condolence message to the parents of the deceased. “Losing a household animal is tremendously upsetting; it is impossible to put a value on losing a child, especially one that grew up to be a young, capable adult. a final-year student, for that matter,” Bamire was cited in the statement. He urged the departed person’s parents, siblings, family, friends, and classmates to find comfort in God, saying, “The Lord will give us all the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss.”