COVID-19 scare in Imo college as lecturer slumps, dies in lecture hall, students flee
- Students of Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education have reportedly abandoned lectures over the fear of contracting COVID-19
- The development follows the death of one of their lecturers in a lecture hall on Tuesday, February 16
- While the management is yet to ascertain the cause of the death, rumours of COVDI-19 have grounded academic activities in the institution
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A senior lecturer at Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education simply identified as Mr Echetama slumped and died in a lecture hall on Tuesday, February 16.
The acting spokesperson of the college, Joseph Okwulehi, confirmed the death to newsmen on Wednesday, February 17, The Punch reported.
Okwulehi said the Provost of the college which is located in Owerri, Imo state, has been having a series of emergency meetings over the ugly development.
Source: Twitter
Legit.ng gathers that the institution's management has advised the staff and students of the institution to be calm and wait for the official position of the institution on the issue.
The spokesman said:
“I can confirm to you that a senior lecturer slumped in a classroom on Tuesday and was confirmed dead at the Federal Medical Center, Owerri."
Echetama, until his death, was a senior lecturer at the Department of Business Education.
It was gathered that the development has forced students to keep away from lectures over an emerging rumour that the sudden death of the lecturer was connected to COVID-19.
Students were seen on Wednesday vacating school hostels, while others fled the school premises for the fear of contracting the dreaded virus.
Some of the students said they decided to avoid lectures when the rumour emerged that the lecturer died of coronavirus complication, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) stated.
A final year student of the institution, Frederick Anyawu, said the development has forced lecturers to suspend lectures.
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Meanwhile, a group of medical scientists from Edinburgh University has said that a variant of COVID-19 known as the B1525 has been traced to Nigeria.
The researchers in their latest report also said the variant has some mutations that call for some concerns.
However, they maintain that more studies need to be done on the B1525 to ascertain its peculiarities.
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Nurudeen Lawal is a Legit.ng journalist passionate about fact-checking/verification journalism. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Literature-in-English from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State. As Politics Editor, Nurudeen mostly writes on Nigeria’s political and socio-economic developments. He has attended different workshops, conferences and training on fact-checking and digital reporting, among others. Learn more about him on Twitter, @Nurudeen Lawal_
Source: Legit.ng
