Tragedy struck at Claratian University of Nigeria, Nekede, in Owerri, Imo State when a seminarian, Suel Ambrose, slumped and died while acting a drama on Good Friday.

The incident caused panic and pandemonium among the seminarians and passersby as frantic efforts to revive the deceased failed.

Some students interviewed on Saturday morning said the deceased, a native of Benue State, was dramatising the character of the biblical Peter during the activities marking crucifixion of Jesus Christ when the ugly incident happened.

One of the students, Mavis, said that the 25-year-old first year student of Philosophy died on the spot.

The student said: “He was playing the role of the biblical Peter in the dream to demonstrate how Peter cut the ear of one of the Roman soldiers who came to arrest Christ and Jesus fixed the ear and as the drama was going on he slumped and died.

“So the young man fell on the floor and started bleeding. We took him to our school hospital and the doctors did their best to revive him but he was not responding.

“We took him to the Federal Medical Centre in Owerri and that was where he was certified dead.

“The drama was in commemoration of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in respect to the Easter celebration. He was born in 1997. He is a year one student and had the dream of becoming a priest in the Catholic church.”

It was observed that the school premises was quiet as everyone was in a mourning mood.

The priest in charge of Students Affairs in the university, Fr Chukwuemeka Iheme, told newsmen that the institution would brief the public after the “authority gives us permission to do so.” (Text, excluding headline, courtesy of The Nation)

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