Sunday, November 09, 2014

[ PLEASE READ THE FULL STORY ] she died on the day of her Project defence, R. I. P Afoke By Abdulsalam Hamza Via @Gwagz_Facts

At exactly 7:30pm yesterday, dear Afoke of Biology Department was trying to cross the road to gwagwalada as she was hit by a hit and run vehicle. The vehicle had no light and was on high speed, the bumper of the vehicle dropped due to the pressure of the hit. The first person who got to scene was Ozo, a fellow course mate. He felt her pulse and knew she was gone that minute. Her body had fractures all over with blood gushing out of different parts. It was dark and most of the students had to trek from inside the campus to the gate as there was little or no form of transportation in the school premises. All lecturers had left with just one remaining, who joined in helping the situation. Students gathered and tried to slow oncoming vehicles down but most of the drivers didn't stop because there were no street lights in front of the main campus to even make them notice what was really happening and neither where they speed breakers to slow the oncoming vehicles. Due to lack of available ambulance, her body was carried in a pickup truck covered with cloth to the medical centre in the mini campus. The case was no longer treated as an emergency as she was already gone. We waited for the arrival of the doctor to confirm her head and do the necessary paperwork before she could be moved to the mortuary in the UniAbuja specialist hospital with the same pickup truck. Amidst all these, where friends and colleagues in tears. They couldn't believe what was happening before them as they were all laughing and gisting hours earlier. The family of the deceased were already contacted and here they came in about an hour later. The mum and dad wept saying "this is not my afoke"  "Afoke why". At that moment came more students shouting and crying, some wanted to vest their anger and grief on the two lectures around as they were all part of the reason they were in school till that late. It was confirmed by some students that the external examiner in his words before the incident happened said that "no success comes without pain". The lecturers talked to some cool headed students saying it happened naturally and they could never have foreseen it. Also present was the SUG provost and other officials. They had all agreed to block the main campus entrance the next day to prevent the Sandwich exams and continuation of the project defence. After hours of condolences, it was about till 10pm the mortuary was closed and the family of the deceased, students and lecturers started heading out of the hospital premises. And then came this morning, I received a call from Austin, a fellow course mate who has been very helpful from when the incident happened. He reported that the deceased dad called him saying they had sent some people and ambulance from town to bring the Corpse of their daughter to the Asokoro hospital. We met at specialist hospital in the company of other course mates and two lecturers. Before the Corpse could be moved, the death certificate was requested from the doctor at the uniabuja school clinic and the sum of #25,000 had to be paid by the university to the specialist hospital for taking care of the body of the deceased. The paperwork work took hours to complete and it was also a shocking revelation that the mortuary attendants actually did nothing all night long to tidy the body of the deceased. Soon the Corpse was ready to be moved as the body was carried into the ambulance, leaves attached to the body of the vehicle and the journey to Asokoro hospital began. Getting close to the main campus, the road was filled with cars on stand by and security operatives all over. The entrance to the main campus was blocked preventing any activity to take place on campus. We got to Asokoro hospital and the body was moved into the mortuary, the HOD of biology department, Dr Solomon joined us at the hospital as we then proceeded from there to the family house of the deceased in karu area of Abuja. Friends and well wishers of the aggrieved family were present and songs of praise were sang to the Lord by the choir members of their church. The leader of the group encouraged the parents and other members of family not to cry so as their daughter can rest in peace. The HOD of biology on behalf of UniAbuja sympathised with the parents and promised a return visit from the school and also pledged the school support in whichever way possible. The father of the deceased in his statement laid blames on UniAbuja for his loss and complained bitterly of how things are done in the school. He stated that he was once a master student in uniabuja and he had to leave as the school couldn't handle his project properly. The mother of the deceased couldn't say a word as she was soaked in tears. It was about 2pm, when we took our leave from the deceased residence and started our travel back to gwagwalada. By then, the road blockade at the main campus was over and necessary attention have been drawn. The SUG officials are to meet with the VC of the university on Monday to proffer a quick solution to the bitter situation amongst which are absence of speed breakers and street lights within and outside the school premises. The project defence for now have been put on hold till further notice.
Burial arrangements for the deceased will be communicated to the general public as soon as information reaches us from the family.
 
° She couldn't do the project defence she anticipated and prepared for as she was to go and come back the next day and then the cold hands of death took her away. Please in your quite time, say a prayer for Afoke.
 
Goodbye dear Afoke
Department of Biology and UNIABUJA as a whole will miss you. Your smile and kind gesture will live with us forever.
 
Reported By Abdulsalam Hamza for Gwagz Facts. For more updates, follow @Gwagz_Facts on twitter. Blog: uniabujafacts.blogspot.com
 
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