OAU Distance Learning Student Electrocuted While Retrieving Football In Osun

OAU Distance Learning Student Electrocuted While Retrieving Football In Osun

A student enrolled at the Centre for Distance Learning (CDL) of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, tragically lost his life after being electrocuted while attempting to retrieve a football in Moro, Osun State.

The incident occurred on Saturday evening at a private hostel located along the Moro/Ife road. According to eyewitnesses, the student had entered a neighboring compound to recover a football that had been accidentally kicked across the fence. After throwing the ball back to his peers, he attempted to scale the fence to return, but came into contact with a high-tension cable that had reportedly been damaged during a recent rainstorm…READ MORE…

Residents say the student was electrocuted instantly. His colleagues, upon realizing he was unresponsive, used a stick to dislodge the wire from him and rushed him to a private medical facility in Ipetumodu, where he was confirmed dead.

An eyewitness, speaking under the condition of anonymity due to fear of harassment, recounted: “He volunteered to retrieve the ball after it crossed into the next compound. While climbing back over the fence, he touched a sagging high-tension wire that had fallen the day before during heavy rains. He was electrocuted immediately.”

In response to the incident, OAU’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Abiodun Olanrewaju, confirmed the development and expressed the university’s condolences to the bereaved family.

“This is a deeply unfortunate loss,” Olanrewaju stated. “The deceased was a CDL student with aspirations to transition into the main university upon completion of his program. Reports indicate that he was playing football with peers when the ball went into a fenced compound. It was agreed among the group that whoever kicked the ball over the fence should retrieve it. He complied, retrieved the ball, and threw it back. Unfortunately, while climbing back, he unknowingly touched a live wire and was electrocuted.”

Olanrewaju added that efforts to resuscitate the student at the university’s facility and another nearby hospital were unsuccessful, as he was declared dead on arrival at both. The Director of CDL, Professor Femi Koya, has since reached out to the family to inform them of the tragic event.