Four people believed to be students of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), have reportedly died following a party at an apartment in End in Praise Lodge, Hilltop area of Nsukka, the university’s host community.
Gatekeepers News reports that the incident reportedly occurred after a house party attended by the victims, with allegations that a mixture of hard drugs and alcohol may have caused the deaths.
However, student leaders have clarified that the deceased were not pharmacy students, contrary to reports circulating on social media.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Onah Olisaemeka, president of the UNN chapter of the Pharmaceutical Association of Nigerian Students (PANS), and Obasi Chibuike, the association’s secretary, confirmed the incident.
The student leaders said they visited the hospital where the bodies were deposited to establish the identities of the deceased but could not recognise any of them as pharmacy students.
“I personally visited Faith Foundation Hospital, where the bodies of four deceased persons (two boys and two girls) from the incident were deposited at the mortuary,” the statement read.
“I also personally viewed the deceased, and I can confirm that I did not recognise any of them as a pharmacy student.”
The association said further enquiries revealed that two of the deceased were familiar personalities within the UNN community, known on social media for street vlogging under the name Rymez and dance content as Golden.
The student leaders urged members of the university community to avoid spreading unverified information and speculation, adding that investigations to establish the identities of the victims were ongoing.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by this unfortunate incident,” the statement added.
Speaking with TheCable, Uzoma Maduakonam, the association’s editor-in-chief, also confirmed the incident, saying it happened after a house party organised following the final-year pharmacy students’ final examinations on Tuesday.
“It was after a house party held at the hostel. And the students were immediately rushed to the hospital. But none of them survived it,” she said.
Maduakonam added that although final-year pharmacy students had written their final examinations on Tuesday, the association’s president and other classmates who visited the hospital could not identify any of the deceased as their colleagues.
Meanwhile, a WhatsApp message purportedly written by a colleague of one of the victims, which has circulated widely, attributed the deaths to an alleged combination of hard drugs and alcohol consumed during the party.
According to the message, some attendees began collapsing around midnight on Tuesday after taking the substances.
“It was not poison that killed them; it was a mixture of hard drugs and alcohol,” the message claimed.
“The house party was held on Tuesday night, and they started collapsing around midnight because the mixture was very strong.
“Then, a neighbour of the host went to knock on his door yesterday night, but nobody responded. They broke down the door and that was how they found dead bodies everywhere.”
The writer further claimed that one of the victims was receiving treatment in hospital and that medical tests had confirmed a drug overdose in her system.
However, the claims about the cause of death have not been independently confirmed.
As of the time of filing this report, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, had yet to issue an official statement on the incident.
