The police in Rivers State have begun a probe into the circumstances surrounding the death of a female student of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) found lifeless in her off-campus apartment on Friday.
The 200-level accounting undergraduate in the Faculty of Social Sciences, identified simply as Adaeze, was allegedly discovered by her landlord in a rented apartment in Aluu, Ikwerre Local Council of Rivers State.
Spokesperson for the command, Grace Iringe-Koko, said the police had launched an investigation to ascertain the immediate and remote circumstances leading to the death of the student.
She explained that police officers who were immediately drafted to the scene upon information on the development, observed a foamy substance flowing from the nose and mouth of the deceased.
Iringe-Koko said a Divisional Police Officer (DPO) at the scene, noticed an empty bottle of insecticide inside the student’s apartment, adding that the victim was later rushed to a nearby hospital where she was confirmed dead by the doctor on duty.
She said: “The Divisional Police Officer said the landlord came to report that he saw his tenant on the ground.
“So, the DPO went there, they saw foam coming out from her nose and mouth and they also saw a sniper close to her (the student). They rushed her to the hospital where she was confirmed dead. Investigation is ongoing to find out the circumstances leading to her death.”
Also confirming the development, the Dean of Student Affairs at the University of Port Harcourt, Prof. Chima Wokocha, said the lifeless body of the student was found in her off-campus residence and brought to a health facility in the school by her neighbours.
Wokocha clarified that the student did not die on the University campus but at a rented hostel outside the institution.
He said: “Her body was brought to the Chief Lulu-Briggs Health Centre by people who live around her in her lodge.
“She didn’t die in the university hostel. She died in her off-campus residence in Aluu, and the scene of the crime was visited by the management of the university, including my humble self.
“The police were there with us also. We acknowledged the fact that she had taken a substance and passed out, because there was a bottle of a substance that was found by her side. The parents had visited, and I think they are making arrangements to take the body.”
