A 300-level Petroleum and Gas Engineering student at the Federal University of Otuoke (FUO) in Bayelsa State is said to have died of a drug overdose.
The deceased 19-year-old student, simply known as Job Alawari Kei, allegedly used the drug Colorado (Colos).
According to some campus students, the drug known as Colos is primarily used by youths involved in internet fraud known as Yahoo Boys.
According to a student who requested anonymity, the deceased student was reported to have “cashed out” on an internet deal and wanted to celebrate by getting “high,” but “the drug handed to him by his friends killed him.”
Already, the student’s death, which comes just a few weeks after the death of another 200-level student of the Federal University of Otuoke, Bright Akhere, at a swimming pool at Renew Empire Hotel in Otuoke, Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, has raised concerns about the rate of student involvement in drugs and internet fraud.
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According to some students, the majority of the deaths recorded in the last six months were primarily due to drug overdoses and internet fraud betrayal.
“We are concerned. Even the girls are experimenting with drugs with reckless abandon. And the school administration is unconcerned because we stay off campus,” one of them lamented.
According to one Joseph, while individual students should exercise caution when it comes to drug use, “the newly elected SUG led by Comrade Saturday Emomotimi Charles has to launch an aggressive campaign against drug abuse within and outside the campus.”
Meanwhile, the Bayelsa State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Asinim Buswat, confirmed the tragic incident in a statement on Tuesday, saying that the deceased student slumped after taking illicit substances and was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
“On 3rd May 2023 at approximately 2200 hours, one Job Alawari Kei’m’ 19 years, a student of the Petroleum and Gas Engineering Department of Federal University Otuoke, slumped after intake of illicit substances,” according to the PPRO. He was rushed to the hospital, where his death was confirmed.
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“The body has been taken to the hospital for autopsy.” The investigation is still ongoing.”
When asked about some of the measures the institution is taking to address drug-related deaths among students, Mercy Ekott, the Public Relations Officer at FUO, stated that the institution has yet to hold a management meeting on the subject, but that they have organized several orientation programs, particularly for all freshmen, on the dangers and consequences of drug abuse.
“Students should be more cautious and responsible in their celebrations and social activities.” They should be of that mindset. All freshmen participated in an orientation program. So we instilled it in them. “They need to be more responsible,” she said.
