Nigerian university student commits suicide

A final year student of Agricultural Engineering at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, has committed suicide.

Tobechukwu Okeke’s body was found on Sunday morning dangling from a rope in his room at Odenigwe, a community in Nsukka, Enugu State.

A neighbour close to the family said the deceased left a note behind where he apologised to his family.

The neighbour, who did not want to be named, quoted the note as stating: “Mother, Father, brother, I’m sorry. Ify, may your children never suffer. Uncle Mathias, you gave me all. I am sorry. Death calls. Linguistic department, I am sorry. Okeke Tobechukwu S. 2012/185649.”

One of the deceased’s colleagues, who also did not want to be named, said he was given an electrical wiring job to do at the Department of Linguistics in the university, because of his expertise in electrical works.

“I saw him this (Sunday) morning, he seemed to have a problem which he needed money to solve,” the colleague added.

Uju Umo, the university’s Dean of Student Affairs, confirmed the incident to PREMIUM TIMES but added that the family had not officially informed the institution.

“I travelled for a burial last weekend and yesterday I got a text message saying a student had committed suicide,” said Mrs. Umo, a professor.

“It happened at Odenigwe, one of the host communities outside the school and I was told he left a suicide note apologising to his fellow gamblers.”

Chukwu Emmanuel, the university’s Student Union President, also confirmed the incident, and said the matter was being investigated.

“There’s no concrete details for now,” he added.

But people close to the deceased said he committed suicide because he was owing “too much money.”

“The guy is an ardent gambler. He comes to British Lodge to gamble. He borrows money to gamble. And he has borrowed a lot of money just to gamble,” one of his colleagues told PREMIUM TIMES.

His last Facebook posts showed he had been involved in the controversial investment scheme known as Mavrodi Mondial Movement (MMM), as he used his account to advertise the scheme.

His penultimate post, in September, read: “MMM is enriching lives of millions of Nigerians everyday. If you care to join or you have any questions please send me a message or comment below.”

Editor’s Note: This post has been updated to show the deceased student was not a comedian.