There was pandemonium, yesterday, at one of the amphitheatres of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State, when the ceiling of the facility caved in during lectures, and injured many students.

There was pandemonium, yesterday, at one of the amphitheatres of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State, when the ceiling of the facility caved in during lectures, and injured many students.

An eyewitness who spoke in confidence, told The Guardian that the incident occurred at about 9:15 a.m. during a heavy downpour.The source said the development forced many students to scamper to safety while efforts were made to rescue the injured ones

It was gathered that the affected students were of the Department of Science and Technology Education (STE), Department of Geology, and Department of Mathematics.

Though the actual figure of the injured could not be ascertained at press time, the witness hinted that he sighted more than 10 students being rushed to the university’s health centre for medical attention. He added that some who had critical conditions were referred to the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital (OAUTH), Ile-Ife.

“We were receiving lectures at about 9:00 a.m., and we noticed that the clouds were forming which led to a storm. The storm was much and it affected the ceiling of the amphitheatre, which suddenly fell. Before the ceiling caved in, everybody was rushing out of the amphitheatre. But some unlucky students were trapped, and the ceiling fell on them.

“We made efforts to rescue the victims. Our class representative was one of them. We were able to get vehicles to move them to the health centre,” he added.

Confirming the incident in a statement, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of OAU, Mr Abiodun Olarewaju, attributed it to torrential rainfall, accompanied with a whirlwind.

He explained that the incident occurred when the students were having a lecture in the amphitheatre of Oduduwa Hall. He said: “The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Adebayo Simeon Bamire, led other principal officers to the Medical and Health Centre, and ensured that the injured students were given adequate medical attention.

“The Vice Chancellor also followed two other students, whose cases demanded more medical attention to the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex (OAUTHC), where the Chief Medical Director (CMD), Prof. John Okeniyi, physically supervised the proceedings.

“Prof. Bamire has, therefore, appealed for calm and urged students and staff to go about their academic and administrative activities without any form of untoward action.

“Meanwhile, the management of the institution has sealed off the amphitheatre, the venue of the unfortunate incident, until further notice.”