Grief in Oye‑Ekiti as FUOYE Student Is Found Lifeless in Abandoned Well After Leaving His Hostel Before Dawn

Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.

A pall of grief has descended on the campus of the Federal University Oye‑Ekiti (FUOYE) after a young student, identified by several sources simply as Ayo, was found dead inside an abandoned well near the school’s hostel area. The student left his room around 5 a.m. on Monday, May 18, 2026, without his mobile phone. When he failed to return, his friends and neighbours raised the alarm. The search ended in the most heartbreaking way imaginable: his lifeless body was pulled from a disused well close to the student residence area, throwing the entire university community into mourning. While the exact circumstances surrounding his death remain unclear, preliminary accounts suggest a suspected case of suicide, and authorities have promised a full investigation to establish what truly happened during the early hours of that fateful Monday morning.

According to accounts gathered from classmates and residents of the neighbourhood, the young man was a calm and friendly person who interacted freely with people around him. Friends recalled how he would occasionally visit nearby lodges to charge his phone or to borrow cooking gas; he was not known to be quarrelsome or reclusive. However, sources close to the family have painted a more troubling picture. Speaking with grief‑stricken voices, a relative alleged that Ayo had been battling emotional and mental‑health challenges for some time, including depression that was linked to family‑related issues and an allegedly strained relationship with his father. “He had been struggling for a while,” the relative is reported to have said, adding that the young man’s internal turmoil may not have been obvious to his peers.

The discovery of the body was made in the afternoon of May 18. A local news outlet that obtained video footage from the scene showed emergency responders and university officials gathering around the well as the grim recovery effort proceeded. By early Tuesday, May 19, the news had spread across social media, prompting an outpouring of shock and sorrow from students, alumni and members of the wider public. Many used the hashtag #RIPAyo to express their condolences, while others called for a more open discussion about mental‑health support on university campuses. “We need to talk about what is pushing our young people to the edge,” one user wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Another bright soul gone too soon.”

At the time of this report, neither the university management nor the Ekiti State Police Command has issued an official statement confirming the exact cause of death. The police are, however, expected to launch a formal investigation, and an autopsy may be conducted to determine whether the death was a suicide, an accident, or the result of any foul play. The university, which has seen a succession of student tragedies in recent years, is also expected to issue a condolence message once the family has been properly notified and the immediate facts have been established.

The incident has inevitably drawn comparisons with other student deaths on the same campus, some of which remain unresolved in the public mind. In September 2023, a 200‑level Nursing student, Modupe Deborah Atanda, disappeared and was later found buried in a shallow grave about 30 metres behind the nursing lecture hall, with her eyes reportedly plucked out. Ten suspects were arrested in connection with that murder. In March 2026, a 300‑level Building Technology student, Promise Farotimi, was crushed to death in his sleep when a heavy‑duty truck rammed into his family home in Aramoko‑Ekiti. And in a case that bears a striking resemblance to the current tragedy, the body of a second‑year student, Aluko Samuel, was found hanging in his own toilet in 2024. Each new loss deepens the question of what more can be done to protect young lives on Nigerian campuses.

For now, the family of Ayo waits for answers in the company of their grief. A relative, reacting to the tragic development, said the young man had been dealing with depression linked to family‑related issues, including an alleged strained relationship with his father. Those who knew him on campus remember a student who would stop to talk, who would borrow a little gas or ask to charge his phone, who never seemed to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. His death has sparked yet another round of conversations about mental‑health awareness and the need for accessible counselling services in Nigerian universities. But for his friends and family, the only reality that remains is that a young man who walked out of his hostel at 5 a.m. on Monday will never walk back in.

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