Four students die after post-exam party in Nigeria; university declares three days of mourning

Four Nigerian students have died after attending a party in the south-eastern town of Nsukka to celebrate the end of their final exams.

The cause of death has not been confirmed, but police spokesman Daniel Ndukwe said the two men and two women had reportedly fallen ill after consuming alcoholic drinks at the party.

The University of Nigeria Nsukka has declared three days of mourning, during which academic and social activities will be suspended. The university has also banned all parties.

The tragedy comes amid a wider crackdown on fake and adulterated alcoholic drinks in Nigeria, where the food and drug regulator has been raiding suspected producers of unsafe food and beverages.

The university's Vice-Chancellor, Professor Simon Ortuanya, said the university received a distress call at 22:00 on Wednesday and sent security personnel to a house party at Praise Lodge, outside the campus in Nsukka's Hilltop area.

He said the preliminary investigation and interim report point to alleged alcohol abuse or drug paraphernalia and things like that, but the university is not conclusive on those matters.

Ortuanya described the deaths as tragic and painful, saying that as a community they mourn not alone but with the families and the parents who spent years training the students in their studies.

He also announced a ban on signing-out celebrations, which final-year students commonly hold to mark the completion of their studies and which often involve parties, dancing, photographs and friends signing one another's shirts.

He urged students to use graduation as a time to reflect on their university experience and prepare for life beyond campus.

The university said it is working with security agencies to establish what caused the deaths. Police have also launched an investigation, saying alcoholic drinks were recovered from the scene and the bodies taken to a mortuary for autopsies.