The lions have been in Mr. Olawuyi’s care since they were born on campus approximately nine years ago.
The veterinary technologist Olabode Olawuyi was murdered by a lion at Obafemi Awolowo University’s (OAU) zoo on Monday, sending the OAU community into sorrow.
The victim, who has been in charge of the Zoological Garden for more than ten years, was attacked on Monday afternoon when he was feeding the nine-year-old male lion and its mates in their lair, according to school spokeswoman Abiodun Olarewaju.
Olarewaju stated that although the other employees present at the event exerted every effort to save their supervisor, the wild cat had already resulted in significant casualties.
Vice-Chancellor Adebayo Simeon Bamire’s management team immediately terminated a meeting for an on-the-spot assessment after learning the tragic news.
When the Vice-Chancellor arrived, Dr. Tirimisiyu Olatunji, Acting Director of the University Health and Medical Center, told him that all attempts to save the victim’s life had failed.
We are saddened by this unfortunate incident and have put the hostile lion to death.
Sadly, the male lion killed Mr. Olawuyi, who had been caring for the lions since they were born on campus almost nine years ago.
The widow and children of the dead have received a delegation from the university administration, pleading with them to find comfort in the knowledge that God, who both gives and takes life, is able to take it away.
Vice-Chancellor Bamire has, in the meanwhile, mandated a thorough study of the incident’s immediate and distant causes.