Lion kills zookeeper at Nigeria's Obafemi Awolowo University

A zookeeper at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Nigeria has lost his life in a fatal encounter with one of the lions under his care.

Olabode Olawuyi, who had been working at the university zoo for close to a decade, was attacked during a routine feeding session, according to the university.

Despite the efforts of his colleagues to intervene, Olawuyi sustained fatal injuries inflicted by one of the lions, leaving them unable to save him from the vicious attack.

University response

University authorities have since euthanized the lion involved in the tragic event, ensuring the safety of both staff and visitors at the zoo.

The zookeeper, a veterinary technologist, had been "taking care of the lions since they were born on campus about nine years ago".

"We never knew what came over the male lion that it had to attack [him]," the university's public relations officer Abiodun Olarewaju said in a report by the BBC.

However, The university students' union leader, Abbas Akinremi, told Nigeria's Vanguard newspaper that the attack was caused by "human error" after the zookeeper had forgotten to lock the door after feeding.

Social media reactions

On social media, the issue has been leading trends with many sharing Nigerians on graphic images of the incident at the university in Osun state in the south-west.

The news of the incident is said to have sent the university community into mourning.

The university sent a team to the family of the deceased to console them.

Its vice-chancellor, Prof Adebayo Simeon Bamire, said he was "saddened" by the incident and ordered a thorough investigation "into the immediate and remote causes of the incident".