Did 36 students of Ekiti State University (EKSU) catch diarrhea from the water they took? The students claimed it was from the water, but the producer is denying their claim.OLATUNJI AWE (300-Level Political Science) reports.
Ekiti State University (EKSU) students and a water producer are trading words over the ailment of some students. The students, who live in Satellite Phase I and II and Osekita, in the state capital, were said to have caught diarrhea after taking different brands of sachet water.
According to the Nation News Paper, as at the time of this report, more than 36 students had been admitted into the university’s health centre. No fewer than six patients are treated daily. “The disease spreads quickly and it is sending more students to the health centre; some have gone home for treatment,” Omowunmi Olayinka, a 400-Level English and Literary Studies student, said.
The students accused the water firms of producing unhygienic water, wondering whether they were certified by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
Some students visited a producer in Osekita students’ area and met with the owner, who vouched for his company’s integrity. His company, he said, operated under a “very hygienic condition”. He denied that his company produced the contaminated water.
He was quoted as saying: “I can categorically state that we have been following due process in the production of sachet water and I can prove this by taking you into the factory to see with your eyes. We can go further by you taking sample of our products from different places in the factory for hygienic test in a place of your choice. They reportedly told the producer to visit the campus clinic to see victims, who complained of stomach upset and ask them how they contacted the diarrhea.
“We are not here to destroy the reputation of your company, but we would appreciate it if you stop the production and distribution of the sachet water until it is proven that your product is not the cause of the outbreak of diarrhea. We are not against your business, but we would appreciate if you go with us to the university health centre to see the victims and confirm from them,” a victim, Abdulrasheed Bello, a 200-Level student, reportedly told the producer.
He followed the students to the health centre and met with an official of the clinic. The official reportedly told him: “We have had over 20 cases of students who have been discharging excessively, having severe stomach upset and other symptoms of diarrhoea.”
The producer said the disease could also be caused by retailers, who he said, may be selling products they had stored during the protracted Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike.
Folake Alomilagba, a 200-Level Economics student, said: “I can recall that a lecturer mentioned a woman in the school area who sells sachet water she stored in her shop during the ASUU strike.”
Another victim, who is a 100-Level student, said: “I did not take the sachet water they alleged to have caused the diarrhea. I took a different brand of sachet water and before I knew what was going on, I had severe stomach upset and was terribly stooling . On getting here, the nurses said I needed treatment.”
The school has launched an investigation into the matter. Its Chief Security Officer, Captain Augustine Ajayi (rtd), and Reverend Father Olaogun of the Department of Sociology told students to collect samples of all sachet water sold around the school for laboratory test.
“Refuting the “producer’s claim of high standard”, Kolawole Jide, a 400-Level Economics student and Students’ Union Government (SUG), presidential aspirant, said: “The company’s sachet water does not carry production and expiry dates.”
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