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A heartbreaking plea from a student of St. Philomena College of Nursing Sciences, Benin City , Edo State, has brought to light appalling and unsafe conditions in the girls’ hostel, sparking outrage and calls for immediate intervention.
Students of the school
According to the nursing student, who spoke out under anonymity for fear of victimisation, the living environment has deteriorated to a dangerous level, with blocked toilets overflowing into bathrooms and faecal matter reportedly seeping towards the kitchen area where students cook and eat.
“Our toilets are badly blocked and bring out human stool, which spreads to the bathroom floor.
“The stench is unbearable. Every time we bathe, we smell stool because it flows up with the water due to poor drainage,” she revealed in a message shared online.
Only one of five bathrooms in the affected hostel is said to be barely usable, while the rest remain completely filled with filth.
The situation worsens, she said, as the faeces-laced water now flows to the front of the kitchen — an area also infested by large rats.
School logo
“It’s so unhygienic and unfit for human living — let alone for nursing students who are meant to understand and practise proper health standards,” she lamented.
Despite paying high school fees, the students allege they are compelled to manually clean the unsanitary kitchen themselves and transport drums of waste to disposal points — duties they insist should be handled by paid staff or covered by the fees already paid.
What adds salt to their wound, the student noted, is that donations made to the school — including funds reportedly given by Labour Party presidential candidate Mr. Peter Obi — have not been used to address the obvious infrastructural decay in the hostel.
“Can’t part of that money be used to make the girls’ hostel livable? Is it too much to ask for clean toilets, working bathrooms, and a safe kitchen?” the student asked.
She appealed directly to the school administrator, Rev. Fr. Jerome Idebe, to urgently prioritise the welfare and dignity of female students by renovating the hostels and restoring basic sanitary conditions.
“Please help us tag, repost, and reach the right people to beg Rev. Fr. Jerome Idebe to fix this mess. We are students, not animals. This is not fair.”
The student’s heartfelt appeal has since sparked concern among alumni, parents, and observers on social media, many of whom are demanding accountability from the institution’s leadership.
As of press time, school authorities have yet to release an official statement in response to the allegations.
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