Nigerians have condemned the gruesome killing of a zookeeper by a 9-year-old lion at the Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Osun State.
Chronicle NG reports that Obafemi Awolowo University closed its zoological park after a nine-year-old lion killed a zookeeper, Mr. Olabode Olawuyi, on Monday.
Speaking with the press on Tuesday, Mr. Wole Odewumi, Chairman of the National Association of Non-Academic Staff of Universities, OAU section, said the university’s management had closed the garden.
He added that the zookeeper was attacked by the lion while attempting to release a woman who had been previously assaulted by the lion.
Odewumi said, “I spoke to some of his colleagues, and they told me what happened. The lion attacked a woman first. The woman is also a staff member working at the zoo.
“The deceased intervened to free the woman from the lion. He must have assumed that the lion would recognize him. His intervention to free the woman must have infuriated the animal. The lion left the woman and attacked him squarely.
“After he was freed from the lion’s grip, they rushed him to the health center on campus here. He, however, died before he got there.”
However, in their reaction to Odewumi’s statement, Nigerians noted that the zookeeper was not rushed to the hospital. Rather, they alleged that he was left to die at the spot of the attack while his colleagues took clips of his corpse.
In his reaction, Mesiri Abraham stated that “the narration by the NASU chairman of OAU, Ile-ife, that he was rushed to the hospital is a big lie!
“The man was clearly left on the ground and declared dead by his colleagues in the video.”
For Aleobe Successful, he argued, saying, “Big fat lie, the man was not rushed to any hospital. His body lay on the ground in the zoo while videoing was going on.”
While First Samuel, an X user questioned how the woman got into the lions den, saying, “Who is this woman, and how did she get there?
“I’ve been to that zoo when there was a lion and a lioness.
“I didn’t even move close, but some do move close because of the barricades.
“So, how did the woman get to that range? The feeding area for the lion is a different section too!” Omepa praised the gallantry and “nice gesture” of the deceased zookeeper.
As Nigerians pray for the repose of the soul of the OAU zookeeper and for the good Lord to grant his family the fortitude to be theirs, A video making the rounds on social media shows the victim lying dead in the pool of his blood.
