By Daud Olatunji
Daud Olatunji““Adekunle Oluwafemi,  Ebenezer Nifemi,  Duro Olamide and  Olalekan were intimate friends. They  chose the same institution  – Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta  (MAPOLY) -for their higher education about two years ago.

“Though  they  were separated by their  choice of courses , they  remained friends after  they secured  admission into the polytechnic.“They shared  many things in common,  perhaps because they were about the same age and spiritually committed. Three were Christians while one was a Muslim.

“The love that existed among them  prompted them to embark on a spiritual journey  recently  to ward off evil  from one of them, who had been  seen dead in a dream. Before the trip, they reportedly had a seven-day fasting on the  recommendation of the leader of a Christian group in MAPOLY.

“After the retreat, they went to a river  near  the Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital,Aro,Abeokuta for spiritual bath. They didn’t come out of the river  alive. They drowned.“Confusion enveloped the polytechnic  and the Abeokuta township as  news of their  death  spread.

“The bereaved parents of the  unfortunate students,mostly from  Lagos, rushed  to Abeokuta to ascertain the shocking news.“The  father of one of the deceased  students was reported to have expressed  the fear that  if he  broke  the news to his  sick wife, another death  could  be recorded.

“Ebenezer, 21,  was studying  electrical /electronics;  Nifemi  was a student of  mass  communication;  Olamide  was a student  of  architecture while  Olalekan was studying  business  administration. The quartet  were in two hundred level.

“The deceased  students  were said to have  chosen  the river  near the Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Aro, Abeokuta to conclude the spiritual exercise after  they had stayed away from food for seven days“and praying hard  to ward off  death that was dreamt concerning one of them.

“Sources said the  girlfriend of one of the victims had had a dream that her boyfriend  was“killed. She  narrated the dream to her  boyfriend.“It was based on this that the quartet  embarked on the ill-fated spiritual fortification.

“The leader of a Christian group,  simply identified as ‘Captain’,  was  said  to have been  arrested, but later released by  the police for taking the victims on the spiritual retreat.“Another story has  it that  the exercise was embarked upon by  several members of  the Christian group. ‘Captain’ was left off the hook, according to sources, because the police could not establish a case against them on the killing of the four students.

It was gathered that the first phase of the retreat had been concluded at the fellowship building in Oluwo, Abeokuta before they proceeded to a mountaineous site for the exercise.

A member of the  fellowship said some members, after the prayer session,  decided to take the spiritual bath at the nearest  river. It was in the process that Oluwafemi, Nifemi, Olamide and Olalekan met their fate. Olalekan, the only Muslim among them, was said  to have converted to Christianity and joined the fellowship only two weeks before the tragic incident.

One of the victims, the sources stated,  was the first to jump into the river and drowned. In an attempt to rescue him, the three other friends jumped into the river  but  did not come out alive.

It was  gathered  that three bodies were  first  to be recovered, while the last one took the  rescue team  two days  before the  corpse was found  and  removed from the river.“Their  corpses  were  deposited at  the  morgue of  Ogun State General Hospital, Ijaiye, Abeokuta from  where  the  parents collected them for burial.

“When contacted, the Director of Student Affairs of  MAPOLY,  Mr. Dele Soyemi, confirmed the incident, saying  the  authorities were alerted thorough a phone call by one of the students.“The Public Relations Officer of the  institution,  Mr. Sulaiman Adebiyi , however, said  the authorities were  yet to  confirm  the status of the deceased in the institution, saying this could not be done  until their identities were verified after  the school resumed.“