It’s absolutely awful that we’ve had many suicides instances this year alone, with the most of them stemming from the issue of despair.
During a review, we learned that five of the more than 40 cases are the most tragic and awful. I’m referring to the five cases involving Chukwuemeka Akachi, a bright young writer, and four other scholars.
1. Chukwuemeka Akachi
Akachi was an aspiring poet with a lot of potential. Many envisioned him following in the footsteps of prominent Nigerian poets such as the legendary Christopher Okigbo at the University of Nigeria, Nsuka, where he was an undergraduate. But tragedy occurred just a year before his graduation.
Chukwuemeka Akachi’s body was discovered by a passerby on May 13, 2019, after he had successfully completed his suicide mission in the isolation of an unfinished building on Sullivan Road in Nsuka. He was claimed to have fallen into a coma after ingesting two bottles of sharpshooter, a lethal insecticide.
It was said that he was depressed, and that was confirmed by the note he left on Facebook.
2. Samuel Elias
Samuel Elias, 25, a final-year student at the University of Nigeria Nsukka’s (UNN) Department of Religion and Culture, committed suicide in June 2019 by swallowing the lethal drug Sniper. Mrs. Kate Elias, the deceased’s mother and a university employee, claimed the tragic incident occurred on Monday, June 17 at around 5.30 p.m. in her home on Justina Eze Street in Nsukka.
She described the incident as follows:
“I came back from work on that fateful day and discovered that the mood of my first child was bad and he was staggering when he came to collect a bottle of coke from the fridge. I followed him immediately to his room and started talking to him but he could not respond and when I looked closely, I discovered that his teeth had tightened up. “As I looked around, I saw an empty Sniper bottle. At this point I raised alarm and my other children rushed to the room and we tried to give him palm oil but his tightened teeth did not allow the oil to enter his mouth…”
Samuel was rushed to Faith Foundation Hospital in Nsukka, according to Mrs. Kate, and was then referred to Bishop Shanahan Hospital in Nsukka, where he died.
3. Uzakah Timi Ebiweni
Another case in point is that of Uzakah Timi Ebiweni, a Niger Delta University (NDU) 300-level medical student who committed suicide. After failing his examination, Ebiweni drowned in a river near the university campus in Amassoma, which is located in the state’s Southern Ijaw regional council. He was one of approximately 50 students out of 169 who attempted but failed the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) exam.
According to the information received, every student must pass the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) exams before moving on to the next level of academic study. Ebiweni and 21 others, on the other hand, were alleged to have failed to the point where they could be placed on academic probation for another academic year, forcing them to withdraw.
4. Hikmat Gbadamosi
On April 27, 2019, the news of Hikmat Gbadamosi, a 100-level student at the University of Port Harcourt in Rivers State, apparently committing suicide sent shivers through Nigeria. After consuming two vials of the lethal chemical Sniper, the Chemical Engineering Department student took her own life.
Hikmat, who was the assistant course representative of students at her level, had previously missed a test, and several of her classmates, concerned about her whereabouts, went to hunt for her at her lodge in Rivers State’s Aluu area, where she was found dead.
5.Christabel Omoremime Buoro
Finally, Christabel Omoremime Buoro, a 21-year-old 300-level student at the University of Benin’s (UNIBEN) Department of Medical Laboratory Science, allegedly killed herself after being dumped by her boyfriend. Her tragic death was discovered beyond the university gate on June 18, 2019, in her dormitory flat at Plot 4 Uwaifo road, Newton Street, Ekosodin neighborhood, over her reported split with partner.
The year is coming to an end, but we should never forget that depression is the leading cause of death among teenagers. Of course, depression does not appear out of nowhere. The majority of the time, it’s as a result of failure, or the inability to hit particular targets.
Source: Nyscinfo