A student of the Obafemi Awolowo University’s Centre for Distance Learning, CDL, Ile-Ife, was electrocuted on Saturday evening while attempting to retrieve a football in Moro, Osun State.
The incident reportedly occurred at a private hostel situated along the Moro–Ife Road, where the student had been playing football with friends.
An eyewitness to the incident disclosed that the ball had strayed into a nearby compound, prompting the deceased to scale the fence in an attempt to retrieve it.
Upon retrieving the ball and tossing it back to his friends, the student was electrocuted as he tried to climb back over the fence, coming into contact with a high-tension cable.
“The wire had been brought down by a rainstorm the day before,”; said a resident who spoke anonymously.
“He was trying to return when his hand touched the exposed wire, and he was electrocuted immediately.”;
His colleagues, after noticing his prolonged absence, rushed to the scene and used a stick to dislodge him from the wire before taking him to a private hospital in Ipetumodu.
“He was confirmed dead at the facility. We later learned they also took him to another hospital, but he had already passed away,”; the witness said.
The spokesperson for Obafemi Awolowo University, Abiodun Olanrewaju, confirmed the incident and expressed the university’s condolences to the student’s family.
“It is unfortunate that we lost one of our CDL students under such circumstances. He had just joined the group to play and was the one who played the ball out.
“In keeping with the group’s rule, he went to retrieve the ball. After throwing it back, he unknowingly placed his hand on a live wire while attempting to climb out,”; he explained.
“His friends found him unresponsive and removed him from the wire with a stick. Though they acted swiftly, he was declared dead on arrival at the hospital,”; he said.
Olanrewaju added that the Director of the CDL, Professor Femi Koya, had reached out to the deceased’s parents to inform them of the incident.
The student’s identity was not disclosed at the time of this report, as efforts were ongoing to manage the situation with sensitivity.
