26-year-old National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, simply identified as Ernest, was found dead on Wednesday at his one room apartment after he reportedly took a poisonous substance, Vanguard reports.
The young man, who was in love with a fellow NYSC member, Chioma Okewuru, was broken when the girl came back from her village last weekend with a ring from a man she had promised to marry.
Ernest, a graduate of the University of Benin, was posted to Cross River State in October, where he met Chioma and they fell in love. They were serving at the Redemption Secondary School, Ofombogha 1 in Obubra Local Government Area of Cross Rivers State.
Acting Divisional Police Officer for Obubra, Noah Ntuen, confirmed the incident to Vanguard on phone. “The girl had told the guy that she would not marry him, but that they could be friends. So when she came back from home last weekend and showed him the ring her husband-to-be gave her, the young man became furious.
“On Wednesday, the situation became worse and at about 7pm, he locked himself in the room and took some poisonous substances.”
A source in the school told Vanguard: “They met at the NYSC Orientation Camp at Abrekpe-Ebokpo and as luck would have it, they were both posted to the same school where they had a relationship going.
“He had the hope the whole thing would end in marriage, but Chioma already had another person she wants to marry,” Ntuen said.
According to the DPO, the body had been deposited in the mortuary of Obubra General Hospital, while Chioma is being asked questions by the police on the circumstances surrounding the tragic death.