Brenda Chidinma Imo-Eze
The Ebonyi State University (EBSU) Student Union Government (SUG) President, Comrade Oshim Tobias, has called for a wider investigation into the death of Favour Ugwuka, a final year student. Ugwuka was found dead on May 22, 2024, with the reported cause being suicide.
Tobias alleges conflicting reports surround the circumstances of Ugwuka’s death.
He urged the media to investigate further, particularly regarding allegations of assault prior to her death.
The university, however, maintains it played no role in the student’s death.
Ugwuka, a student of the Department of English and Literary Studies, allegedly took her own life after failing a course that would have prevented her from graduating with her classmates.
The university’s vice-chancellor, Prof. Chigozie Ogbu, addressed the reports at a press conference on Monday, May 27, 2024.
He described the death as “unfortunate” and said the deceased did not report any problems to the school management.
“The university has a system where if after exams, a student feels that he or she is marked down or that the lecturer is victimizing him or her, the student knows what to do,” he said.
“When a student is confident that a lecturer has deliberately marked him or her down, and that she is sure that she passed the exam, what the student does is to complain to the HOD or Dean and deserve to request for re-mark.
“If she had been victimized by a lecturer, she should have approached the school management for complains
“We have our Senior Staff Disciplinary Committee and if any lecturer found victimizing a student, such lecturer will definitely be sanctioned and called to order.
“The School Management in collaboration with the security agencies are still investigating the incident,” Ogbu added.
On her academic performance, Prof Ngozi Emeka-Nwobia, Dean, Faculty of Social Social Science and Humanity of the School, gave the analysis of Ugwuka’s results, saying that she was not performing well right from her 100 level.
“I have the certified true copy of the results of Ugwuka with the registration number; EBSU/2018/89726 for the department, who registered in the year 2018/2019 and that is her 1st year,” Emeka-Nwobia explained.
“In the first Semester, she offered nine courses out of which she failed three courses and had a CGP of 1.78. In her second semester first year, she took eight courses. Out of the eight courses, she failed two and had a CGP of 1.75 thereby having a sessional CGP of 1.76.
“In the year 2021/2022, she took a total of 11 courses and failed two courses making a GP of 1.83. In second semester, she failed four courses making a GP of 1.18. Total CGP for the session -1.52.
“In her extra year, 2022/2023, she registered a total of six courses in first semester and she passed all. In second semester, she registered a total of six courses and failed one giving her a CGP of 2.84
“After the extra year, she had outstanding courses; ENG 224, ENG 416,;ENG 422. The bone of contention is ENG 416. In 2021, she scored 40 which is fail. She took it the second time in 2022/2023 and had 21 which is also fail.”