For one family, what should have been an ordinary weekend reunion has ended in an unimaginable tragedy, with a young man’s final promise to meet his cousin becoming a painful memory.
A bereaved relative of one of the victims of the sign out party tragedy that happened at Hilltop Hostels Nsukka, Enugu State, Ugwunayi Ikenna, has recounted how a planned reunion with his younger cousin, Nnamochie, ended with a visit to the mortuary, where he found him lifeless.
In an emotional tribute shared on Facebook, the relative described the deceased, whom he fondly called Dodo, as a calm, intelligent and lovable young man whose death had left the family devastated.
Recounting their last conversation, he said he had visited Nsukka the previous week when the deceased called to arrange a meeting. However, an unexpected appointment prevented them from seeing each other, and he promised to make time for him over the weekend.
But that meeting never happened.
According to him, the deceased suddenly became unreachable, leaving members of his family unable to contact him. Ikenna said he returned from Lagos on Wednesday, only to find himself visiting his cousin’s remains at a mortuary the following day.
His account has added a deeply personal dimension to the deaths of four young people following a gathering at an off-campus lodge in the Hilltop area of Nsukka on Wednesday, November 11.
The incident reportedly occurred during a gathering organised to celebrate a friend who had completed his final-year examinations at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
Initial reports had suggested that the deceased were pharmacy students of the university. However, the Pharmaceutical Association of Nigerian Students (PANS), UNN chapter, dismissed the claims, clarifying that none of the deceased had been identified as a pharmacy student.
The university’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Simon Ortuanya, confirmed on Thursday that four people died, while six others were taken to different hospitals for treatment.
According to the Enugu State Police Command, the victims comprised two males and two females who reportedly took ill after allegedly consuming alcoholic beverages at the gathering. Alcoholic drinks were recovered from the scene, while the bodies were deposited in a mortuary for autopsy.
However, Ikenna offered a different account of the gathering’s composition, claiming that 11 people were in the room, comprising five males and six females.
He further alleged that only one of the women declined to drink, while four people, two males and two females, died. The remaining six, according to his account, survived and were receiving medical attention.
The relative also claimed that only bottles of Best Gin and Magic Moments were served at the gathering, insisting that his cousin neither consumed alcohol nor used drugs.
He, however, acknowledged that investigations were ongoing and said he was withholding further findings from visits to hospitals and the mortuary until more facts emerged.
Meanwhile, the police have commenced an investigation to establish the circumstances surrounding the deaths and determine their actual cause.
The Vice-Chancellor described the incident as ‘a death too many’ and announced three days of mourning, during which academic and social activities at the university would be suspended.
As families mourn their loved ones and survivors continue receiving treatment, questions remain about what happened inside the lodge and what could have led to the sudden deaths.
For Dodo’s family, however, the questions surrounding the tragedy are accompanied by the pain of a future that will never happen.
The cousin who had promised to see him over the weekend is now left with memories of their final conversation and a goodbye he never imagined he would have to say.
‘Too difficult to say goodbye,’ he wrote in his tribute.