- Student commits suicide
- No, he was murdered – Analyst
- 4 die in sex romp
- One escapes rituals’ knife
Tragedy struck in Owerri on Tuesday when a 100 level Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO) student, Daniel Nwafor, committed suicide.
Nwafor, who is of the Department of Industrial Chemistry was said to have carried out the action in his lodge at Umuchima, Ihiagwa in Owerri West Council Area of Imo State. The victim was found hanging in his room by his friends.
This came as another unconfirmed report said that another student in the lodge committed suicide by taking sniper. In the case of late Nwafor, sources said that he returned back to the lodge with his mother about seven days ago, took his life two days after his mum left the residence.
The deceased was said to be facing some health challenges and going through some severe stress. He however left a note for his mother, who has been taken into police custody.
FUTO’s Student Union Government Public Relations Officer, Manume Excel, confirmed to News Echo that the sad incident took place on Wednesday.
He said, “Yes, I am 100 per cent aware of his death, currently the school is on top of the matter and as it stands now, I am writing a report to submit to the school management this morning.
“The student in question is a 100-level student of Chemistry department, 18 years old and hails from Anambra state. His name is Daniel Uche Nwafor.
“He was diagnosed of some health conditions. While speaking with the mum yesterday, the mum said he was having an ear problem that was a bit severe that when it starts smelling, he could perceive and taste it. That was how severe the mother said his case was yesterday. We were with the mother till 9 to 10pm last night at the police station.”
According to him, “The guy packed into a new lodge and the mum was with him for about six days, that’s throughout last week, the mum was with him. They had to go home to check up some things at home then the guy died after two days which was yesterday.
“There was a note he left, though the police did not allow students to see it, I suspect the note to be a sort of an apology that his parents should not be angry that he could not be able to cope with the infection and stuffs that came with it. So that is just a brief rundown of how things went yesterday,” Manume said.
Excel said Nwafor’s death left him and other FUTO students traumatized, adding that, “I had close to 600 chats yesterday that I could not reply, and all the chats were what happened, what happened, and I was now scared of repeating this story to close to 600 persons that were asking me what happened.
“I am scared of pouring out my emotions in the report I am about to write, finding out he is the only child of the parents. I felt he was just an only son till we went to the police station, we found out he was the only child of the parents.”
Excel noted that Nwafor’s mum was also at the scene when her son’s lifeless body was being evacuated.
On how Nwafor’s dead body was discovered, Excel said the deceased had sent a disturbing text message to the mum and she tried calling him back without success. Her inability to reach her son prompted her to visit his apartment off campus.
“Why the mum came around, from what she said, was that the boy sent her a text message that got her worried and she started calling the boy, he was not taking his calls again, called the caretaker and the caretaker maybe was not with his phone at that moment.
“So, she became worried that this one I’m calling my son, and this is a boy that parked into a new lodge barely a week and they were trying to make him comfortable as the only child. They bought him a new generating set and provided everything he wanted, so the mum became worried and had to come down to school. When she came, she saw that the boy is dead,” he said.
The SUG president said Nwafor’s body was evacuated to an undisclosed mortuary, after officers from the Ihiagwa police station had examined the alleged suicide scene.
Public Relations Officer of FUTO, Uche Bright-Nwelue, also confirmed that the deceased was a first year student of the institution and wondered why an 18- year- old would take his life.
“Somebody brought the picture to me, though I have not visited the scene but I wondered why a 18year old person would take his life, this is an end time,” she said.
Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Orlando Ikeokwu SP, confirmed the report. He also confirmed that the deceased has been taken to the mortuary.
However, there is a dispute as to the cause of the death. A social media commentator expressed fear that Nwafor might have been murdered and suicide fake to cover the heinous crime.
According to the commentator, who did not want his name in print, the analysis of the victim’s photo showed some anomalies that point to a possible murder.
The person said, “This ain’t suicide man. He was murdered and then hanged. Analyse this photo well. The rope on his neck should be tight. His legs were still on the floor. Due to the pressure on the rope in his neck, the tongue should be out. His body is not even stressed; his body is relaxed. He’s meant to be tensed and stressed due to the pressure of the ropes. He’s meant to be hanging and not one leg down, one leg on a chair. Someone killed or some people. But due to the failed police system of Nigeria, they will or he will be walking a free man.
Lately, the cases of students committing suicide have been on the increase. In January, 2020, a fresh graduate committed suicide in Calabar. Three months later, a student of the department of Literary Studies of University of Nigeria, Nsukka was alleged to have taken his own life.
In September of the same year an analysis of Nigerians that committed suicide showed that of the 42 Nigerians that took their own life, 11 of them were students.
Before now, followers of the pulsating tragic events taking place in FUTO are worried that apparently something is wrong somewhere. They argued that it be borne out of psychological, spiritual, mystical or even traditional. It will be recalled that not too long ago, at Sunshine Lodge, Ihiagwa, a community close to FUTO, three students were said to have collapsed and died while taking turns to have sex with a co-student after allegedly taking a mixture of the now banned tramadol, codeine and vodka. As it was reported and confirmed by the police, two of them, according to an eyewitness account, died instantly while the only lady among them and another male student were found unconscious.
The report revealed that ”they were immediately rushed to the Federal Medical Centre Owerri where they were admitted at the Intensive Care Unit. The male student later died at the hospital, after efforts to revive him by a team of medical personnel failed. At as the time of filling this report, students have vacated the hostel, while the caretaker has been arrested by the police. The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Orlando Ikeokwu, a Superintendent of Police, confirmed to The Guardian yesterday that the students used sex-enhancing drugs during the sex romp at Sunshine Lodge. He gave the names of the deceased as Ugochukwu Kingsley, Aka Uche and one Richard”.
Also, in July 2019, a FUTO) student was apprehended after he tried using a fellow student for money ritual.
As it was made public in a national medium, ”The student of Biological Science who was nabbed at a student’s lodge, Bliss Mansion in Umuchima, Imo State, said that he engaged in the ritual so that his fraudulent scheme on the internet popularly known as yahoo-yahoo will go smoothly.
”Narrating how the incident occurred, Daniel, a final year student of Biological Science and the ritualist victim said his ordeal began after he took him (the ritual man) in after his claim of being arrested by the police. ”He called me at late hour of the night appealing to me to allow him sleep over at my place. I sent him the address of my place and when he came, he narrated to me how he was arrested by the police and the other stories afterwards. He told me that he doesn’t want more troubles, so he decided to lie low at my place.
”He insisted I go get him something to eat; I had to borrow #200 from my lodge mate. Some minutes past 12:00am, he came to the bed telling me that the music I was playing was disturbing him, because he hasn’t slept for about 2days. Suddenly he started making incarnations, I initially thought it was funny not until he started asking me why I haven’t slept off yet, I told him I would sleep when the time comes. At 2:00am he started beating me up and when I was shouting, he told me that no one can hear my voice. I struggled with him for so long, destroying the properties in my room. At 2:30am, my lodge mates started coming to my rescue and by God’s grace, I could open the door for them. He also told me that his plan was
The question now is, why FUTO is always in the news for the wrong reasons? According to a traditional ruler in Ihiagwa, His Royal Highness, Eze Lucky Ajoku of Umuchima Autonomous Community, said, ”FUTO is a community, a full-fledged community and so whatever is happening there should be peculiar to them. If there is a problem, it should be peculiar to them. It has got nothing to do with Umuchima community. You know what happens in such environment.
A lot of things go wrong there. You’ve been a student and you know what happens there in the campus. Students do a lot of things while taking exams. They often engage in hard drugs, which can make them go haywire. So it has got nothing to do with any deity or ancestral thing. In the suicide case of the university, the police came, investigated and took the corpse”.
