Oshim Nwankwagu, the President of the Ebonyi State University (EBSU) Student Union, has claimed that Miss Favour Ugwuka, a final year student of the institution initially reported to have committed suicide, was actually murdered by unidentified individuals.
Nwankwagu alleged that the deceased had been beaten in her hostel by the same accused individuals prior to her death.
The EBSU Students’ Union President made the allegations known to newsmen at the permanent site of the University in Abakaliki, the state Capital on Wednesday.
Late Ugwuka, of the English Literature Department, was last week alleged to have committed suicide over her inability to pass one of her final year courses.
The incident of her death went viral following a recorded voice note sent out through her phone which indicted one of her departmental lecturers of having deliberately failed her in one of the final year courses.
Nwankwagu explained that immediately the report of her death got to the union, the student’s welfare body took it upon itself to investigate.
“And at the course of our investigation, we were able to uncover that there were different opinions on what led to the cause of this lady’s death
“I’m speaking to you, the media, because I want all hands to be on deck.
“Some of the things we gathered were that this young girl had actually been beaten up prior to her death.
“Who was with her or possibly sent out the voice note and why was she found out of her room, ”
he asked.
Similarly, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Chigozie Ogbu, on Monday, said the poor academic performance of the deceased started in her first year in school.
Professor Ogbu who exonerated the accused lecturer, stated that the deceased would have called for a re-mark of her script instead of taking her own life.
The Vice-Chancellor, however, noted that the institution has sent its condolence message to the family of the deceased.
However, the Ebonyi State Police Command through the Public Relations Officer, DSP Joshua Ukandu, said an investigation has commenced to unveil the remote cause of the student’s death.
