The Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) community was in grief on Monday after a lion at the school’s zoo killed Olabode Olawuyi, a veterinary technologists.
According to the school’s spokeswoman, Abiodun Olarewaju, the victim, who has been in charge of the Zoological Garden for more than a decade, was attacked on Monday afternoon while feeding the nine-year-old male lion and his mates in their lair.
The other members of staff who were on the scene did everything they could to save their boss, but the wild cat had already killed several people, Olarewaju explained.
When the management team, led by Vice-Chancellor Adebayo Simeon Bamire, learned of the tragic news, they hastily stopped an ongoing meeting for an on-the-spot review.
Upon arrival, the Acting Director of the University Health and Medical Centre, Dr. Tirimisiyu Olatunji, informed the Vice-Chancellor that all first aid and medical efforts to save the victim’s life had failed.
The violent lion has been euthanized, which is a dreadful incident.
Mr. Olawuyi has been caring for the lions since they were born on campus nine years ago, but the male lion sadly killed him.
The university administration has dispatched a delegation to the deceased’s widow and children, urging them to find comfort in God, who both gives and takes life.
Meanwhile, Vice-Chancellor Bamire has ordered a thorough investigation into both the local and remote causes of the occurrence.