UNN Confirms Four Dead, Six Hospitalised After Hilltop House Party as Police Begin Investigation

Four people have died and six others have been hospitalised following a house party at an off-campus lodge in the Hilltop area of Nsukka, Enugu State, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), has confirmed.

The incident occurred on Wednesday night, November 11, at Praise Lodge, outside the university's Nsukka campus. It attracted widespread attention on Thursday after videos circulated on social media showing several people lying motionless on the floor inside a room.

The footage prompted initial reports claiming that seven Pharmacy students who had completed their final examinations had died during a sign-out celebration. However, subsequent statements from the university, the police and the Pharmaceutical Association of Nigerian Students (PANS), UNN chapter, have provided a different account.

Speaking to journalists on Thursday, UNN Vice-Chancellor, Professor Simon Ortuanya, confirmed that four people died while six others were taken to hospitals for treatment. He said some of the hospitalised victims were in critical condition.

According to the Vice-Chancellor, the university received a distress call at about 10 p.m. on Wednesday that some students and graduates were involved in an incident at a gathering in the Hilltop community.

The university's security personnel subsequently moved to the location, where they discovered that a house party was taking place at Praise Lodge.

Ortuanya said four people had died by the time the university's team arrived, while the remaining six were taken to hospitals for medical attention.

The Vice-Chancellor described the incident as tragic and said the university was cooperating with security agencies, particularly the police, to establish what happened.

He also announced three days of mourning across the university community in honour of the deceased. During the period, academic and social activities, including lectures and ceremonies, were suspended.

The university further postponed a town hall meeting scheduled for Friday, November 13, between members of the university community and Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah.

The police have also confirmed that an investigation is underway.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the Enugu State Police Command said the four deceased persons comprised two males and two females. Police spokesperson, SP Daniel Ndukwe, said the victims reportedly took ill after allegedly consuming alcoholic beverages at the gathering.

The command also confirmed that six other people were rushed to hospitals for treatment.

According to the police, alcoholic beverages were recovered from the scene, while the bodies of the deceased were deposited in a mortuary for autopsy.

The police said the investigation would establish the circumstances surrounding the deaths and determine their actual cause. The recovery of alcoholic beverages at the location does not, on its own, establish that alcohol caused the deaths.

The incident had initially generated confusion because of claims circulating online that seven Pharmacy students were among those who died.

PANS, UNN chapter, subsequently issued a clarification disputing the claim that the deceased were Pharmacy students.

In a statement signed by its President, Onah Olisaemeka, and Secretary-General, Obasi Chibuike, the association said its leadership visited Faith Foundation Hospital to establish whether any Pharmacy students were among the victims.

According to the association, four bodies, comprising two males and two females, had been deposited at the hospital's mortuary. Olisaemeka said he personally viewed the deceased but did not recognise any of them as Pharmacy students.

The association's statement addressed the four bodies its representatives saw at that hospital. It did not, by itself, establish the identities or academic status of everyone involved in the incident.

PANS urged students and members of the public to avoid spreading unverified information, particularly claims identifying the deceased as Pharmacy students.

The clarification came after the story gained traction online, with several posts linking the incident to a celebration held after final-year Pharmacy examinations.

Although the gathering was reportedly associated with a sign-out celebration, the available official statements do not establish that all those present were Pharmacy graduates or that the gathering was exclusively organised by Pharmacy students.

The identities of all the deceased and the six hospitalised persons have not been fully established in the official information available so far.

The cause of the incident also remains under investigation. While the police said alcoholic beverages were recovered at the scene and that the victims reportedly became ill after consuming them, the autopsy and other investigative findings will be important in determining what actually led to the deaths.

The Vice-Chancellor also referred to preliminary concerns about alleged alcohol abuse and drug-related substances, but cautioned that the university had not reached a definitive conclusion.

The tragedy has raised concern across the UNN community, particularly among students living in the Hilltop area and families trying to establish whether their relatives were affected.

It has also highlighted the risks of allowing unverified accounts to shape public understanding of an incident while emergency response and investigations are still ongoing.

For now, the confirmed account from the university is that four people died and six others were hospitalised after the gathering. The police have commenced an investigation, and the university has declared three days of mourning.

As families mourn the deceased and await further information, the identities of those involved and the medical findings surrounding the incident remain important questions for the authorities to clarify.