Following the tragic loss of final-year student Toluwase Emmanuel, Covenant University has released an official account to address concerns regarding the school’s response.
Vice-Chancellor Timothy A. Anake clarified that the emergency began during a football practice on Monday, April 6, 2026.
The university maintained that Emmanuel had initially signaled for a break due to leg pain and fatigue before his condition worsened, asserting that the institution was not negligent in its handling of the situation.
“In a short while, his football mates observed that he was gasping for breath, and they responded swiftly by taking him to the Medical Centre’s emergency unit, which was directly opposite the playing field. However, he had stopped breathing by the time he arrived at the facility,” the statement said.
The university said medical personnel immediately initiated emergency procedures upon his arrival.
“Though he was brought in dead, the doctors responded immediately by administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) with an automated external defibrillator (AED). However, all efforts to resuscitate Jesutunmise were unsuccessful,” the Vice-Chancellor stated.
The institution added that the student was later “certified clinically dead due to prior undisclosed heart condition.”
Responding to allegations circulating on social media that the medical centre failed to provide adequate care, including claims that oxygen was not administered, the university denied any form of negligence.
“We wish to confirm that there was no form of negligence in the response of the medical personnel or a shortage of any required equipment for the treatment,” the statement added.
The management noted that senior officials, including the Vice-Chancellor, were present at the medical centre from the time of the incident until the arrival of the deceased’s family.
“The management of the University… remained with the family until he was laid to rest,” it stated.
The institution described the late student as “a diligent and vibrant” member of the university community and extended condolences to his family.
“The entire Covenant University community extends our deepest condolences to the family for this loss. This is also a loss for the University and the entire society,” the statement added.
The tragedy has ignited a firestorm on social media, where critics allege that a deficient emergency response at the university’s medical center contributed to the student’s death.
Reports circulating online claim that Emmanuel suffered respiratory distress and was denied life-saving equipment like oxygen; some even suggest that staff resorted to prayer rather than medical intervention.
Covenant University has firmly rejected these accounts, insisting that all emergency protocols were strictly followed and that no equipment failures or procedural lapses occurred.
Persecondnews recalls that on June 7, 2025, Mordi Nwense Daniel of Engineering department was struck by lightning while playing football in the rain in the university while in August 2014, | John Chinedu Okere, a 300-Level Electrical Engineering was kidnapped and murdered by an acquaintance in Lagos after leaving campus for medical reasons.
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