Protesting the death of a SCD student at YABATECH on HWN HIGHLIGHT

Academic and other activities were grounded at Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH), Lagos, yesterday following students protest over the death of a final year student, Comfort Olubukola Dazan.

Dazan, who had sickle cell disease (SCD), reportedly died, following a crisis.

Her colleagues claimed that Dazan, who was studying Office Technology Management, might not have died if she had not been rejected at the medical centre where she was rushed when she collapsed at midnight. They also faulted the institution for not helping to raise the N35, 000 deposit demanded by the hospital she was taken to from the clinic.

They said they paid for medicals but do not get value for their money. They said the late Dazan’s father has stroke; the mother has a bad leg.

They regretted that the late Dazan, who was the best student in her class with a Cumulative Grade Point Average of 4.93 died on the day she was to start her practical examination.

One student, who refused to give his name, told The Nation that the medical centre treated Dazan shabbily even in death.

He said: “The school clinic did not take the body to the mortuary immediately. They put the body in the ambulance and then back to the clinic and did not even clean the body up as it was stained with vomit and excreta; so students got angry and started protesting. Two other students even fainted today (yesterday)”.

The students presented a 10-point demand to the Rector, Dr Margaret Ladipo and took her round the school to show her bad structures. ýAt the rector’s premises, they saw two parked ambulances and asked what they were doing there.

The rector appealed for calm, but when some security agents shot into the air, the students got angry and burnt down the clinic.

The students also blocked the college’s gates, causing traffic gridlock in its environs, especially on Herbert Macaulay Road, where they burnt tyres.

They asked for two-week mourning for the late Dazan and postponement of examinations, lectures and practical.

Their other demands included: visit and payment of compensation to the bereaved family; autopsy by forensic experts on cause of death; re-instatement of the student union; fumigation of hostels, classrooms and laboratory facilities each session; rehabilitation of toilet and hostel facilities, among others.

In a statement, the schools Public Relations Officer, Mr Charles Oni, refuted claims that the late Dazan was neglected.

He said she had been under the clinics care days before her death, adding that she was discharged to allow her prepare for her practical examinations, which started yesterday.

Oni said: “She had developed a crisis in the afternoon of Tuesday, February 9, 2016 and was temporarily on admission at the College Medical Centre under close watch of the Centre’s Management. She was however discharged when her condition became stable so that she could prepare for her examination today, Wednesday, February 10, 2016. Practical examinations began round the College last Monday as a precursor to the main general examination scheduled for Monday, February 15.

The late Dazans crisis relapsed around midnight and her room mates rushed her back to the medical centre where precautionary medical attention was given to her, with a promise to refer her to Federal Medical Centre at Ebute Meta as soon as day break.”Oni claimed the students cashed in her death to pressure the institution to postpone the examination which begins “fully” next week.

Students immediately cashed in on the death of the late Dazan to engage in opportunistic clamour for the extension of the semester. They demanded for the extension of the semester for two weeks contrary to the College calendar.

Unfortunately, many students do not prepare for examination until such examinations are a week or three days away, and customarily, they always plead for extension until the Management put a stop to such opportunism about two years ago. The hydra-headed clamour sprang up again Wednesday because of the death of Miss Dazan.

A lecturer, who is a member of the colleges academic board, said the board was meeting at the time of the protest, adding that the students restricted movement within and out of the college.

We were meeting during the protest. The students did not allow us to go in or come out. They wanted the board to shift the examination immediately,” he said.

Dazan’s remains were buried at Atan Cemetery, Yaba, yesterday.

Source: WWWN, HWN AFRICA.