No fewer than 30 students of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka, fainted or sustained injuries during a stampede that occurred on campus on Tuesday, FIJ has gathered.
Sources who witnessed the incident told FIJ that the students were billed to write general studies (GST) exams in the Distance Learning Institute (DLI) building on the day.
Some of these students arrived at the exam centre as early as 7 am but were not allowed into the hall until 6 pm.
As the deadline approached, students who were yet to gain entry began forcing their way through, causing some to faint and others to sustain injuries.
Pictures and videos seen by FIJ show damaged gates, students with bandaged hands and men carrying some students into an ambulance.
“The university management is responsible for Tuesday’s disaster because they did not plan the exam well or provide enough infrastructure for everyone to do their exam on time,” a source told this newspaper.
On Wednesday evening, FIJ called Adejoke Alaga-Ibrahim, the university’s head of communications, but she asked that we send her a text message instead. FIJ sent her a text message, but she had not responded as of press time.
However, Ibrahim later issued a statement saying the management had resolved to suspend the exam.
She said, “This suspension followed a review of the various issues that have affected the conduct of the examination in the last two days. Please note that all inconveniences caused by this suspension are deeply regretted, and a new date/schedule for the GST examination will be shared appropriately.”
Credit: FIJ
