Update: Eyewitnesses Clarify Cause of Accounting Student's Death
Peter Oyebanji
Chiwendu Ebenezer, a final year student of Obafemi Awolowo University died in a road accident on Monday evening.
Chiwendu Ebenezer, popularly known as Wendy, is a final year student of Management and Accounting, OAU. She died in an accident at Mayfair, a busy bus-stop in Ile-Ife.
Chiwendu who was also confirmed to have just written her final papers in the Institute of Chartered Accountants Professional examination was on her way to get Shawarma when a bus hit the bike she was on. There have been several accounts of how the accident occurred and how Chiwendu died. We got clarifications from eyewitnesses who witnessed the accident and her fight for survival in the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital College (OAUTHC).
Speaking with a student of OAU who witnessed the accident, she clarified that the deceased was hit by a bus due to brake failure and not by a trailer as has been widely reported. "I got there immediately the incident happened. I witnessed when they were rushing the lady to the hospital because she was still alive then, and I could see that she was on a bike. What happened was that a bus was coming from that roundabout at Mayfair facing Lagere and the bike man was going the other way from Lagere facing the bus," she said.
She stated that it was a brake failure and also clarified that the bike man was not really injured. "It was a brake failure. The bike man was not really injured but she was badly injured," she concluded.
Another eyewitness, Fatokun Matthew Babfemi, a student of OAU narrated his experience. Fatokun witnessed the scene from the beginning up until Chiwendu gave up the ghost.
In the release titled "moment before she died," Fatokun narrated how they struggled to get Chiwendu to the hospital due to resistance from transporters. "About some minutes to 4pm yesterday, I noticed a distant gathering of people beside Bofat Filling station, Mayfair. Then I decided to peep into the gathering, only to discover that a fatal accident had just happened at the scene and it appeared a female has been severely injured. She had bruises and blood all over."
"I was yet to confirm the details of the accident but I could figure she needed an urgent medical attention as she grasped for breathe and struggled to move her arms and legs with the little gust of energy left in her. Immediately, I and some persons carried her and arranged how to get her to the closest hospital but there was an heavy traffic jam along Mayfair/Lagere road which made it impossible for us to transport her along that path considering the possible effect of the traffic jam on her time of arrival at the hospital. By then, she had managed to tell me she was an OAU student, so we considered taking her to Health Center but the passing motorists were not ready to carry her, rather they sped off whenever they came close and saw the degree of her situation. It was not until some minutes later that an Okada rider came by and offered to help," Fatokun narrated.
In the emotional release by Fatokun, the occurrence in the health centre and the university teaching hospital was also told. Fatokun clarified that Chiwendu was promptly attended to at the health centre by being given a drip.
"At health Center, she was promptly attended to by the medical personnels; they administered a drip for her but she kept on complaining of breathing difficulty. After some minutes, she regained consciousness on the bed and said; 'I can’t breathe again'… then at intervals, she exclaimed; 'Ah!!! my mum, my mum, my mum.' That was the situation until she was transferred via the ambulance, and as we proceeded to OAU THC, she became unconscious again."
Fatokun narrated how Chiwendu kept on fighting for survival until they got to OAUTHC where she died.
"At OAUTHC, she was transferred to the Emergency ward and the doctors had immediately placed her on some resuscitation process but her pulse had reduced. Her BP was drastically reducing so they started another round of CPR for her. With her eyes wide open, the doctor confirmed her heartbeat had stopped. All efforts afterwards proved abortive," Fatokun stated.
"I tried calling her name. I had even taken one of her finger Rosary to recite the Catholic prayer for her but all efforts proved abortive. Then it dawned on me that it was too late, Wendy is gone! HER WATCH HAS ENDED. Afterwards, I returned the two finger Rosaries to her hand and instructed the mortuary attendant not to remove it. May God forgive her all her trespasses and may her gentle soul rest in perfect peace. And when the roll is called on the last day may we all assemble without the loss of anyone. Amen!" Fatokun finished.
Meanwhile, Chiwendu's department has fixed Friday, 7th of June for candlelight procession to honour her. Her church has also postponed all events that was supposed to come up this week.
Chiwendu Ebenezer, a final year student of Obafemi Awolowo University died in a road accident on Monday evening.
Chiwendu Ebenezer, popularly known as Wendy, is a final year student of Management and Accounting, OAU. She died in an accident at Mayfair, a busy bus-stop in Ile-Ife.
Chiwendu who was also confirmed to have just written her final papers in the Institute of Chartered Accountants Professional examination was on her way to get Shawarma when a bus hit the bike she was on. There have been several accounts of how the accident occurred and how Chiwendu died. We got clarifications from eyewitnesses who witnessed the accident and her fight for survival in the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital College (OAUTHC).
Speaking with a student of OAU who witnessed the accident, she clarified that the deceased was hit by a bus due to brake failure and not by a trailer as has been widely reported. "I got there immediately the incident happened. I witnessed when they were rushing the lady to the hospital because she was still alive then, and I could see that she was on a bike. What happened was that a bus was coming from that roundabout at Mayfair facing Lagere and the bike man was going the other way from Lagere facing the bus," she said.
She stated that it was a brake failure and also clarified that the bike man was not really injured. "It was a brake failure. The bike man was not really injured but she was badly injured," she concluded.
Another eyewitness, Fatokun Matthew Babfemi, a student of OAU narrated his experience. Fatokun witnessed the scene from the beginning up until Chiwendu gave up the ghost.
In the release titled "moment before she died," Fatokun narrated how they struggled to get Chiwendu to the hospital due to resistance from transporters. "About some minutes to 4pm yesterday, I noticed a distant gathering of people beside Bofat Filling station, Mayfair. Then I decided to peep into the gathering, only to discover that a fatal accident had just happened at the scene and it appeared a female has been severely injured. She had bruises and blood all over."
"I was yet to confirm the details of the accident but I could figure she needed an urgent medical attention as she grasped for breathe and struggled to move her arms and legs with the little gust of energy left in her. Immediately, I and some persons carried her and arranged how to get her to the closest hospital but there was an heavy traffic jam along Mayfair/Lagere road which made it impossible for us to transport her along that path considering the possible effect of the traffic jam on her time of arrival at the hospital. By then, she had managed to tell me she was an OAU student, so we considered taking her to Health Center but the passing motorists were not ready to carry her, rather they sped off whenever they came close and saw the degree of her situation. It was not until some minutes later that an Okada rider came by and offered to help," Fatokun narrated.
In the emotional release by Fatokun, the occurrence in the health centre and the university teaching hospital was also told. Fatokun clarified that Chiwendu was promptly attended to at the health centre by being given a drip.
"At health Center, she was promptly attended to by the medical personnels; they administered a drip for her but she kept on complaining of breathing difficulty. After some minutes, she regained consciousness on the bed and said; 'I can’t breathe again'… then at intervals, she exclaimed; 'Ah!!! my mum, my mum, my mum.' That was the situation until she was transferred via the ambulance, and as we proceeded to OAU THC, she became unconscious again."
Fatokun narrated how Chiwendu kept on fighting for survival until they got to OAUTHC where she died.
"At OAUTHC, she was transferred to the Emergency ward and the doctors had immediately placed her on some resuscitation process but her pulse had reduced. Her BP was drastically reducing so they started another round of CPR for her. With her eyes wide open, the doctor confirmed her heartbeat had stopped. All efforts afterwards proved abortive," Fatokun stated.
"I tried calling her name. I had even taken one of her finger Rosary to recite the Catholic prayer for her but all efforts proved abortive. Then it dawned on me that it was too late, Wendy is gone! HER WATCH HAS ENDED. Afterwards, I returned the two finger Rosaries to her hand and instructed the mortuary attendant not to remove it. May God forgive her all her trespasses and may her gentle soul rest in perfect peace. And when the roll is called on the last day may we all assemble without the loss of anyone. Amen!" Fatokun finished.
Meanwhile, Chiwendu's department has fixed Friday, 7th of June for candlelight procession to honour her. Her church has also postponed all events that was supposed to come up this week.
Comments
Post a Comment