The Authorities of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, have said that a 300-Level student in the Department of Plant Physiology and Crop Production, College of Plant Science and Crop Production of the university, Maria Atere, who died in a road accident, was never admitted at the health centre of the university.

 

The university, in a statement by the Head, Directorate of Public Relations, Mrs. Emi Alawode, said Atere and another victim of the accident were given initial treatment at a private clinic at Camp area, a community in Abeokuta, before they were transferred to the Federal Medical Centre, also in Abeokuta.

 

According to Alawode, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Olusola Oyewole, had instituted a committee to investigate the circumstances that led to the incident.

 

The deceased reportedly died when a commercial motorcycle she was riding on was knocked down by a car along the Camp-Alabata Road, in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

 

Fellow students had protested Atere’s death, alleging that the 22-year-old student died as a result of negligence on the part of doctors at the university’s health centre.

 

Alawode denied the claim, saying the deceased was never brought to the health centre though she said the university sympathised with members of her family.

 

The statement read in part, “When the sad incident occurred, some good Samaritans brought two unidentified victims of the accident to a private clinic at Camp. Miss Atere was later discovered to be one of them. She was given first aid treatment before being referred to the Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta, for better medical attention due to the severity of the injuries sustained. Unfortunately, she passed on.

 

“However, contrary to unfounded allegations of negligence, made by some individuals against the university, Atere was never brought to the university health centre for treatment, hence, no doctor had the opportunity to quickly examine her and arrive at a decision on the most appropriate form of medical treatment. Nevertheless, the university ambulance was dispatched to the private clinic at Camp, when a request was made. ”

 

Folashade Adebayo

. Punch