Authorities at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, have confirmed the death of a final year student who reportedly committed suicide.
A final year student of agricultural engineering at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, who is also reported to be a participant of the Mavrodi Mondial Movement investment scheme (MMM), has committed suicide.
Premium Times reports the student, identified as Tobechukwu Okeke was found on Sunday morning, November 27, dangling from a rope in his room at Odenigwe, a community in Nsukka, Enugu state.
The deceased was said to have left a note behind where he apologised to his family, according to accounts by a neighbor close to the family.
The contents of the note read: “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,” the neighbour, who did not want to be named, quoted
Though the cause of Mr. Okeke’s death is yet to be ascertained, some of his neighbours suggested that he was in debt, some said he was tired of schooling, others attributed his suicide to the loss of money in a network business he invested into.
The deceased’s last Facebook posts showed he had been involved in the controversial MMM scheme as he used his account to advertise the scheme.
His last 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.”
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.
The university authorities have also confirmed the incident, but said the family had not officially informed the institution.
Uju Umo, the university’s dean of student affairs said: “I travelled for a burial last weekend and yesterday I got a text message saying a student had committed suicide.”
“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.”
Similarly, 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.
People close to the deceased described him as a comedian who always used jokes to awake sleeping students during night classes.
“He used to go around to classes at night to crack jokes and encourage students to forget their worries and focus,” a friend told Premium Times.
Recall that the House of Representatives recently asked the EFCC and the Central Bank of Nigeria to immediately go after the promoters MMM in Nigeria.
Lawmakers strongly opposed the investment scheme, which lately gained popularity among Nigerians in the wake of the current economic recession in the country.
MMM promises 30 per cent return on investment for any money put into the scheme within 30 days.
The investment scheme has a Russian origin and involves directing clients to make money available for an anonymous person with a promise of 30 per cent return within one month.