Samuel Elias, a final-year student of the Department of Religion and Culture at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka killed himself on Monday by taking an insecticide, Sniper.
The 25-year-old was said to have killed himself around 5.30pm in the house where he lived with his mother, Mrs Kate Elias at Justina Eze Street, Nsukka, Enugu State.
Kate said, “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 soft drink from the refrigerator.
“I followed him 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.
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“As I looked around, I saw an empty sniper bottle; at this point, I raised the 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.”
She said Samuel was immediately rushed to the Faith Foundation Hospital, Nsukka, from where he was referred to the Bishop Shanahan Hospital, Nsukka, where he eventually died.
Kate stated, “I know two things he usually complained about – his inability to graduate from the UNN since 2016 because of the project that he had not finished as his classmates had all gone for their National Youth Service Corps programme.
“Also, how his father’s family in Ihechiowa in the Arochukwu Local Government of Abia State has abandoned us after my husband died.
“Whenever he complained of these things, I usually advised him to trust God, who is capable of solving every problem.
“I do not know why he would go to this extent of committing suicide; I have seven children and he was my first child. It is still like a dream to me that my first child has died.”
Reacting to this incident, the Head of Department of Religion and Culture, UNN, Prof. Tagbo Ugwu, said somebody called to inform him of the incident.
“I received the news with shock and surprise. I will find out from his supervisor what is wrong with his the project that stopped him from graduating,” he said.
Recall that earlier in May, one Chukwuemeka Akachi, a 400-level student of the Department of English and Literary Studies, UNN, also ended his own life after reportedly taking a bottle of sniper.