Sad Story Of 12 Nigerians Who Committed Suicide In The Last 8 Months Over Frustration & Mental Disturbance

Sad Story Of 12 Nigerians Who Committed Suicide In The Last 8 Months Over Frustration & Mental Disturbance

By Tobi Aworinde and Eniola Akinkuotu Sunday Punch

He just returned to his parents’ home after being away for a year. His mother realised that he was not his usual self as he had become withdrawn and always seen staring at nothing in particular for several minutes with a distant expression indicating that he was in a world of his own.

Whenever his siblings offered to take him out, he would refuse all entreaties, insisting that he wanted to be alone as he was unhappy and sometimes complained about his inability to get a job.

It was learnt that the mother woke up at midnight on that day to see if the house doors were locked and no electrical appliances left on as she usually did. To her utter shock, she saw her son lying in a pool of his blood in the kitchen with a knife tugged at his body and his bowels ripped out, suggesting suicide.

This is the heart-rending story of Chidike Oyeka, a 25-year-old graduate of Madonna University, who just returned to his parents’ home in the Aguda area of Lagos State after the compulsory one-year National Youth Service Corps programme.

SUNDAY PUNCH gathered that when he began showing signs of depression, Oyeka was taken to a hospital to see a general practitioner and not a psychiatrist. There could have been substantial help if he received the right help on time.

The story was similar to that of 49-year-old Abolarinwa Olaoye, a civil servant, who hanged himself within the Ekiti State Secretariat in Ado Ekiti in November 2018.

The body of the father of five, who was a night guard at the Ekiti State Scholarship Board, was found dangling with a clothing material tied to the railing of a building at the state Ministry of Education.

Olaoye, according to his co-workers, lamented the financial problems he was facing.

He had told his sister-in-law, Mrs Elizabeth Babalola, a day before that he was tired of life but she only offered words of encouragement while no medical help was sought.

For Lagos-based disc jockey, Seun Omogaji, popularly known as DJ XGee, his reason for committing suicide was not clearly stated in his suicide note which he posted on Instagram.

He simply bade his siblings and mother farewell and asked friends to wear white to his funeral instead of black.

However, friends close to him claimed he had lamented the marital crisis he was facing and felt the best way to overcome the emotional trauma was to take his life by gulping an insecticide, ‘Sniper’.

Another victim, Tolulope Abodunrin aka Don Tee, a bank worker, who admitted on Twitter to have been plagued by thoughts of suicide for two years due to depression, promised to write a book about surviving the pains.

He wrote, “I contemplated ending my life several times. For over two years, I battled suicidal thoughts but today, I am thanking God for life.”

Two months after, however, Abodunrin, who was a 2006 graduate of Accounting from the University of Ilorin, Kwara State, relapsed into depression and took his life on November 21, 2018.

On May 14, 2019, a gospel artiste formerly with the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Michael Arowosaiye, committed suicide by strangling himself with his belt in his home Sunnyvale Estate, Lokogoma District, Abuja.

It was learnt that the deceased was allegedly depressed over undisclosed personal issues.

The Head, Media and Public Relations, RCCG, Pastor, Olaitan Olubiyi, said the deceased had quit the church before the incident. He noted that it was the church tradition for every parish to assist every member experiencing stress.

Lecturers, students major casualties

Information obtained from several news reports show that students and lecturers of higher institutions constitute the highest victims of suicide cases in the last eight months.

Adigun Emmanuel, a 27-year-old final year student of the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Ilorin, also committed suicide by ingesting a bottle of Sniper after he failed his final year project for the third time.

In a social media note left behind, he indicated that he had been accused of plagiarising his current research work.

According to his WhatsApp chats, he uploaded a picture of the Sniper at about 5.14pm, about two hours after he lamented online about his situation to his friend.

He opened the conversation at about 3.39pm when he said in short statements: “Same research work. He said I did copy and paste. I am in a deep mess at the moment. My life don tire me (sic). I feel like dying. I wish I could sleep and not wake up again.”

His friend however responded with words of encouragement, “Don’t give up bro, it gets better.”

The deceased then responded, “I pray so, thanks a lot for your concern. I appreciate it a lot. May God continue to bless you! Amen.”

However, a few hours later, he uploaded a picture of Sniper on social media and his friends pleaded with him again but this time, it was too late.

Hikmat Gbadamosi, a 100-level student of the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, had also been showing signs of depression and had opted to live in a private apartment off school campus, away from her colleagues.

Gbadamosi, a student of Chemical Engineering Department, was said to have barred friends from visiting her.

The young lady, who was the assistant course representative of students at her level, recorded a short video in which she was seen crying and saying, “It worsens every time and I don’t know who to call” which was posted online. That was the last anyone saw her alive.

Her bloated corpse was discovered in her room some days after some of her classmates went to check on her. She consumed Sniper.

A friend of the deceased, Paul Okhare, noted that she complained of depression for a long time.

He said, “When we talked months back, all she told me was how depressed she was and we had a serious and deep talk that took the whole night. I gave her a sermon on how to measure up with the state she was and I pleaded with her; she said she would be fine.”

A lecturer in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Federal Polytechnic, Auchi, Edo State, Mr Patrick Okojie, also committed suicide after two failed attempts.

Another lecturer at the Department of Crop Production, College of Agriculture, Kwara State University, Malete, Dr. Solomon Osunlola, also took his own life after his request to be made a full-time lecturer was declined.

Osunlola was said to have fallen into depression after which he took his life.

Kolapo Olowoporoku, a student of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, also took his life last month after repeatedly failing some courses.

Olowoporoku was an ‘extra year’ Computer Science student who ought to have graduated two sessions ago but was delayed as a result of two outstanding courses.

The deceased, who served as the general secretary of his departmental association in 2016, swallowed a poisonous substance, which led to his death.

Also on May 13, 2019, a final year student of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Chukwuemeka Akachi, committed suicide after stating the reason for his action in a poem he posted on Facebook.

He wrote, “Forgive me. In case you are the one who finds the body. I am really sorry. It had to be someone, you know. I have chosen Jo Nketaih’s poem as my suicide note: ‘They said you came looking for me. I did not drown; I was the water.’ Where do atheists go to when they die? Lol. Amen.”

Akachi was said to have battled dementia for over two months and survived a previous suicide attempt.

Two lecturers had been asked by the university to monitor and counsel him but this proved futile as the English and Literary Studies student carried out his threat by taking a poisonous substance.

A 300 level student of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Aisha Omolola, also committed suicide in her apartment at the Samaru area of Zaria on December 26, 2018, after informing friends of her depression.

Omolola drank a bottle of insecticide on December 26, 2018, leaving a note where she stated the reason for her action. In her suicide note, the deceased blamed her parents for her action, saying they made life a hell for her.

The suicide note read in part: “If I am no more, please hold my family, especially my mum and dad, responsible. I have tried to be the best I can be, stayed away from them just because they blamed me for their mistakes and they can’t love, help and take care of me like their own.

“My mum has made life a living hell for me because she is bipolar and frustrated, accusing me of being a witch, and a cursed child even though my brother is responsible for my education and upkeep.”

On May 7, 2019, a 20-year-old senior secondary school student, Moji Agboola, died in Omu-Aran, Kwara, after taking poison.

The deceased, an SS1 student, died at Adeyemo Hospital in the town due to complications in her body system as a result of the poison she ingested

She confessed to have taken the poison by herself due to poor grades before giving up the ghost at the hospital.