Osun students, family protest death of corps member, Ifedolapo Oladepo

Church members, students and members of the family of late Miss Ifedolapo Oladepo staged a protest in Osogbo, Osun State, on Tuesday to register their anger over the alleged negligence of officials of the National Youth Service Corps orientation camp in Kano State, which led to the death of the 2016 Batch ‘B’ corps member.

This is just as the Federal Government stated that the late corps member had renal sepsis occasioned by infection, which killed her.

In Osun, the protest took off from the Freedom Park and was led by the National Public Relations Officer of the National Association of Nigerian Students, Mr. Idowu Odebunmi; the Deputy Coordinator of NANS in the South West, Mr. Saheed Afolabi, and the National President of the National Association of Osun State Students, Mr. Oladejo Bashiru.

The protesters, who were dressed in black and displayed placards bearing various inscriptions, marched through the Osogbo/Ibadan Road before proceeding to the state House of Assembly.

They vowed to continue the protest until those who allegedly failed to give adequate medical attention to the first class graduate of Transport Management of the Ladoke Akintola University of Tehnology, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, were exposed and punished.

A representative of the Oladepo family, Mr. Bamiji Oladele, while addressing members of the Assembly, led by the Deputy Speaker, Mr. Akintunde Adegboye, said the protesters decided to submit their protest letter to the National Assembly through the state lawmakers so that the death could be probed.

Oladele said anybody found guilty of negligence in the case should be punished according to the law, adding that such would prevent recurrence of untimely deaths in the scheme.

He said Ifedolapo was killed due to negligence because officials at the NYSC camp failed to attend to her on time.

“The NYSC should tender a public apology to Nigerians. Investigation should be conducted into the circumstances that led to her death which should be made public and adequate compensation be paid by NYSC.”

The NANS PRO said, “The NYSC should be restructured; heavy compensation should be paid to the family of the deceased and any official, who is found guilty, must be punished.”

The Deputy Speaker, who addressed the protesters, assured them of the readiness of the lawmakers to take up the fight.

He said the state House of Assembly had made known its readiness to probe the alleged negligence which led to the untimely death of the victim, saying they would not allow any cover-up.

The remains of the corps member, who hailed from Ila Orangun, Osun State, were buried in Osogbo last Thursday

Meanwhile, the Federal Government said Ifedolapo had renal sepsis occasioned by an infection.

The Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, and the Director-General of the NYSC, Brig. Gen. Suleiman Kazaure, stated on Tuesday that the result of a test ordered by the government showed that the deceased “had kidney infection probably due to untreated urinary tract infection.”

Kazaure said the corps member did not disclose to officials the ailment she had been battling with before resuming to camp.

He said, “It is clear that the deceased had an ailment which she did not disclose. From the doctors’ report, the corps member died of renal sepsis occasioned by infection. Even to the untrained, kidney infections do not develop and degenerate to the level of mortality in three days.

“The deceased first appeared at the camp clinic with complaints of headache and fever. On examination, the doctor on duty noticed rashes on her legs, which she claimed started appearing as a result of her use of second-hand knickers she bought without first washing them.”

The NYSC DG added that the deceased was later referred to the Gwarzo General Hospital for treatment, where after examination, “the doctor concluded that the deceased had kidney infection probably due to untreated urinary tract infection.”

According to him, Ifedolapo gave up the ghost after she had been stabilised for the long journey to Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital for immediate dialysis.

Also speaking, Dalung said the public should disregard information on the social media that the lady died of negligence, adding that those “saddled with the responsibility of informing us should always try to crosscheck some of these things before they publish.”

[Punch]