Students of YABATECH went viral over colleague’s death

All activities were put to a hold at the Yaba College of Technology, Lagos State, on Wednesday as students shut the college’s gates to protest against the death of a deceased, a final year Higher National Diploma 11 student in the Department of Office Technology Management, Miss Comfort Dazan who passed on at the Federal Medical Centre, FMC, Ebutte-Meta. 

The protesting students said their colleague’s death was as a result of negligence on the part of medical staff at the hospital, they equally threatened to raze Yaba Medical Centre and the hospital, calling for the Medical Director’s resignation. The protesting students also took to the roads, blocking the Jibowu end of the Herbert Macaulay Road, Yaba.

The students were said to have chanted solidarity songs and displayed placards, some of which read, “Injustice to one is injustice to all” and “This nonsense must stop,” they also prevented motorists from moving in and out of the school.

It was learnt that Dazan, who had just finished the practical aspect of her examination, was to sit for the main examination on Wednesday (yesterday). It was gathered that the student, however, fell ill some days ago and was rushed to the college’s medical centre. She was allegedly asked to pay N35, 000 before she could be treated. But when she could not raise the money, she was allegedly left unattended to, while her condition worsened until Tuesday when she was referred to the Federal Medical Centre, Oyingbo.

The students were said to have gone on the rampage at about 1pm, shutting all the entrances into the school.

One of the students, Olamide, who rushed late Charity to the hospital, narrated how she died: “We rushed her to the medical centre by 12noon yesterday (Tuesday). “They told us there was no bed space and we waited for four hours before drugs were given her.” He said although a doctor directed that she be admitted, a nurse sent them away, only for her case to get worse when they got to the hostel. On returning to the centre at about 10p.m, they were reffered to Federal Medical Centre, Ebute-Meta, where they were made to cough out N35,000 before treatment could begin. It was while all these were going on that Charity passed on at about 2a.m. yesterday. According to them, the poor state of the school clinic contributed to her death.