Delta State University (DELSU), Oleh Campus, was at the weekend thrown into mourning following the death of a final year Law student, Jeffery Omatseyi, at Graceland hotel swimming pool in Irri community, Isoko South Local Government Area of the state.

It was learnt that the incident occurred last Friday and students from the law faculty of the institution went on a candle light procession on Saturday, to mourn their colleague.

The students, all clad in black and armed with placards with various inscriptions, such as “Itsekiri and Ijaw boy no fit let go for shallow part of swimming pool,” “Your pool is not Sambisa forest”, “Fish no dey die for water;” “Give us Jeffery, where your CCTV”? “We have questions, give us answers.” among others.

President of the Students’ Union Government at DELSU, Comrade O. Innocent, expressed sadness over the untimely death of their colleague and demanded to know the cause of his death.

He maintained that the statement from the hotel management and the police were conflicting, noting that an Ijaw boy could not have died in a swimming pool.

“It is not true that an Ijaw boy would die in a swimming pool of two feet. Never, and so, we would not accept the conflicting reports from the hotel management. They should tell us what happened to him. The incident happened on Friday and the body was deposited at the mortuary on Saturday.

“Justice must prevail, we want to know how our colleague died. Omatseyi was to graduate in a few weeks, suddenly he lost his life.”

A 500-level law student, Emeni Fidel, said: “ Omatseyi was a friend and popular among his colleagues. The circumstances surrounding his death are not known, which is why justice must be done. We want to know the truth about his death.”

Meanwhile, Provost of the institution, Prof. Ifoghale Amata, has appealed to the students to remain calm, assuring that justice would prevail over the death of Omatseyi.

He advised against any planned protest to unravel the cause of death, warning that such may be hijacked and lead to unintended consequences in the area. When contacted, the police public relations officer in the state, DSP Onome Onovwakpoyeya, confirmed Omatseyi’s death. (Text, excluding headline, courtesy The Guardian)

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