A graduation celebration at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), has reportedly ended in tragedy, with six or seven people feared dead after a house party in the university community.
The incident occurred on Wednesday night at Hilltop, an off-campus residential area in Nsukka, Enugu State, where newly graduated students, reportedly from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, had gathered to celebrate completing their academic programmes.
Reports by Vanguard and other Nigerian media indicate that the victims were discovered lifeless inside the apartment on Thursday morning.
The number of casualties, however, remains uncertain, with different accounts putting the death toll at six and seven. Their identities and individual status as graduates of the university have also yet to be officially established.
The incident has generated shock across the university community, particularly as some of the students had reportedly shared photographs and videos of their graduation celebrations on social media shortly before the tragedy.
Videos circulating online purportedly show several bodies lying inside a room at the residence. However, the circumstances surrounding the deaths have not been officially established.
The university’s Acting Public Relations Officer, Sunday Inya Egwu, told journalists that he was at the hospital gathering information about the incident.
In a message to journalists, he had earlier asked those seeking clarification to await an official statement from the university.
Meanwhile, an unconfirmed account attributed to a student alleged that medical examination of one survivor indicated the presence of an overdose of hard drugs. The claim has not been independently verified, and there is no established medical or official finding linking substance use to the reported deaths.
The Enugu State Police Command had yet to issue an official statement confirming the circumstances of the incident as of the time of filing this report.
The tragedy has raised urgent questions about what happened inside the apartment and what led to the reported deaths of the young people who had gathered to celebrate an important milestone in their lives.
