*Declares Three-Day Mourning, Restates Ban On Sign-off Activities
THE Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Prof. Simon Ortunaya, has disclosed that the four fresh graduates who died on Wednesday, November 11, at a house party off campus had consumed substances suspected to be drugs.
The six fresh graduates were found dead in an apartment around the Hilltop area of the university community.
The five females and one male were said to have graduated earlier in the day before their bodies were discovered.
Ortunaya explained that 10 students attended the party to celebrate a friend who had just finished his final-year examinations, but four of them died after consuming substances suspected to be alcohol and drugs.
He added that the remaining six students were at various stages of recuperation in the hospital.
Following the incident, the university has declared a three-day mourning in honour of the deceased.
According to the VC: “Within these three days, all social and academic activities will be suspended in the university.”
He announced the suspension of a town-hall meeting earlier scheduled between the university vommunity and the Governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, describing the incident as “a death too many.”
The VC sympathised with the bereaved families, noting: “The management, staff and students of the University of Nigeria share in their grief at this difficult moment and pray for the repose of the souls of the departed.”
He stated the affected students came from different departments, contrary to reports that they were from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
He restated the ban on all forms of sign-off celebrations in the university, urging students “to desist from indulging in activities that will endanger their lives,” while the university authorities were collaborating with security agencies to unravel the actual cause of the students’ deaths.
