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Tag: Suicide

  • Two female suicide bombers hit GSM market in Potiskum

    Two female suicide bombers hit GSM market in Potiskum

    Five people including two female suicide bombers were killed after a noon attack yesterday on a GSM market in Potiskum, Yobe State.

    According to eyewitness, the bombers were dropped off by an unsuspecting tricycle rider near the market.

    They later detonated the Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) they hid under their clothes in the midst of unsuspecting crowd, killing themselves in the process.

    A nurse at the Potiskum General Hospital said: “We have three dead bodies at the moment. The two suicide bombers also died. There are so many people wounded. There are 46 people that are wounded. With the number of these people wounded, there is a possibility that the death toll will rise because some of the injuries are critical.” the source informed.

    “Five persons were brought to the morgue of the Potiskum General Hospital from the scene of the bomb blast, including two females who were said to have detonated the explosives.

    “The 46 persons brought injured with varied injuries are currently receiving treatment at the hospital (Potiskum General Hospital).”

    ”With the severity of injuries, the death toll may rise as some are “holding on to a tiny thread of life.”

    Describing the scene of horror, Adamu Saidu, a trader in the market who escaped the attack said the sound of the blast set the whole market in confusion.

    “I was attending to a customer in my shop when I heard a loud sound. I fell down but woke up to see many people running in all direction. Everybody was confused. I saw some people on the ground in pains. I saw the bodies of the two female suicide bombers cut into two,” Saidu explained.

  • Fear of female suicide bombers beginning of wisdom

    Fear of female suicide bombers beginning of wisdom

    MIA BLOOM, a professor of security studies at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, and the author of “Bombshell: Women and Terror” and “Dying to Kill: The Allure of Suicide Terror”, in this piece for Washington Post  argues that female suicide bombers are not a new phenomenon

    There were four suicide bombing attacks by young women in Kano, Nigeria. Especially worrying is that the reported ages of the suicide bombers are getting younger and younger. A 10-year-old girl strapped with a suicide bomber’s explosives belt and her older sister were taken into police custody. The attacks raise concerns that Boko Haram has doubled its mobilisation base.

    These attacks and others led the city of Kano to ban public worship and celebrations of Eid, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan. Local police have issued warnings about women covered in hijab.

    Who are the female suicide bombers in Kano?

    Three narratives have emerged about who these young bombers were. A handful of reports originally suggested the women were among the Chibok girls kidnapped April 14 and other women and young girls abducted by Boko Haram over the past year. Another report instead alleges the young women are actually impoverished Kano beggars who have been outlawed by Kwankwaso. But a Nigeria-based security analyst says the suicide bombers are more likely to be the offspring of Boko Haram members.

    The truth is we don’t know who these female bombers are, and we likely won’t anytime soon. In contrast to male suicide bombers, few female bombers leave “last will and testament” videos that could provide positive identification. What is clear is that regardless of whether the young women were girls abducted in Chibok or poor women picked up off the streets, Boko Haram has now embraced this tactical innovation quickly and with deadly results.

    This is not a new phenomenon.

    Nigerian scholars have echoed what I have claimed in my own research on women and terrorism – that female suicide bombers are not a new phenomenon, even in Africa. As early as December 2009, Al Shabaab began to disguise themselves as women in order to effectively carry out suicide-bomber targeted assassinations. Al Shabaab began to pair a male and female operative to give the appearance of a couple on a date. This was particularly effective when the group would attack soft targets like hotels, restaurants or markets.

    Women have been involved in terrorism since the 19th century, but religious groups previously eschewed the use of female bombers. The innovation in tactics by these groups introduces new challenges to those defending against terrorism. As scholar Nojeem Shobo of the University of Lagos has said, including women as perpetrators in terrorist attacks brings a “disturbing twist to the fight against insurgency.”

    The nature of the organisations that employ female suicide bombers has changed.

    Female suicide bombers were active in the 1980s in Lebanon and in the 1990s in Sri Lanka, Turkey and Chechnya. And by the turn of the century, female suicide bombers had spread to conflicts around the globe. What changed was the nature of the organization that employed them. Initially, leftist groups or secular organiSations were more likely to employ a female in suicide attacks. Time and time again, they proved to be deadlier and more effective than men.

    Bruce Hoffman illustrated how effective female bombers were in The Atlantic in June 2003:

    “A person wearing a bomb is far more dangerous and far more difficult to defend against than a timed device left to explode in a marketplace. This human weapons system can effect last-minute changes based on the ease of approach, the paucity or density of people, and the security measures in evidence…In April of last year a female suicide bomber tried to enter the Mahane Yehuda open-air market—the fourth woman to make such an attempt in four months—but was deterred by a strong police presence. So she simply walked up to a bus stop packed with shoppers hurrying home before the Sabbath and detonated her explosives, killing six and wounding seventy-three.”

    Most Islamist groups (besides the Chechens) were slow to adopt the strategy of female bombers either because they assumed they had more than enough men for the job or because the social limitations of women traveling without a chaperon (Mahram) required additional considerations and planning for female bombers. Some feminist scholars (e.g., Andrea Dworkin) assumed this reticence might also be a function of wanting to limit women’s roles in political violence lest this influence women’s power in a patriarchal society and politics as a whole.

    The Islamic groups had an infinite ability for adaptation and doctrinal flexibility. Starting in 2004 with the release of a Web-based magazine called al Khansa’a, the evolution of religious ideology on female suicide bombers changed from advising women what to do while their men were on Jihad to telling women they, too, could be Jihadis and even be suicide bombers.

    Why have Islamic groups recently taken so enthusiastically to including female suicide bombers?

    I highlight four primary changes.

    First, there has been an ideological shift. Debates emerged on-line and fatwas were issued stating that women’s obligation for Jihad is equal to that of men. This was largely led by Sheikh Yusuf al Qaradawi, an Egyptian cleric living in Qatar who has legitimized the use of women as suicide bombers.

    Second, Al Qaeda’s structure changed. As the central core of Al Qaeda gave way to a host of regional affiliates, those affiliates were more inclined to involve women in front-line violent activities. While al Qaeda’s leaders swore that there were no women in the organization, Al Qaeda in Iraq, al Shabaab, Chechen militant groups in Chechnya and Dagestan, and groups in Pakistan and Uzbekistan and others began using female bombers as early as 2005. It’s only recently that female bombers have emerged among the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan, relatively late adopters compared to the affiliated groups killing Western contractors or people in line for food aid.

    Third, there were changes in targeting. Women are ideal operatives when attacking soft targets and blending in with civilians. As terrorist organizations have shifted from attacking military targets (hard targets) to civilian targets (soft targets), women have been especially useful. When an improvised explosive device is strapped around a woman’s midsection, it gives the impression that she is pregnant, throwing off security forces who don’t expect a woman — let alone one who is pregnant — to be carrying a bomb. As a result of the existing stereotypes we have of the inherent peacefulness of women, they are less likely to be searched at checkpoints and if the security services are too invasive (and reports of sexual violations at checkpoints is common in many of these conflicts), then invasive searching of women in traditional settings only helps the terrorist organisations recruit more men who are outraged that women are being abused. Mobilising men to protect the honor of women is hardly a new tactic and was extremely effective in the 1960s and 1970s for the provisional IRA who used the strip-searching of Republican women in Belfast by the RUC to motivate men to join the movement.

    Finally, including women offered a new mobilisation strategy – not just of women, but also of men. Women serve a unique purpose in helping mobilise men into terrorist organisations. It is a powerful narrative when women (especially online) accuse men of being unmanly unless they step up and join the Jihad to protect their sisters in Islam. In addition to tapping 50 percent of the population, recruiting women is an effective strategy of goading men into participation. This also explains the effectiveness of women online as propagandists, fundraisers and recruiters for terrorist groups.

    When are female suicide bombers used most often?

    That said, my research suggests that terrorist groups tend to gravitate toward female operatives not when they are at their strongest but when they are at their weakest. Terrorist groups include women either because they are having a difficult time accessing hard targets — which are more valuable in the long term for their struggle — or because men are not signing up unless they are guilted into it. The fact that Boko Haram is using women may be an indication of their weakness more than their strength.

  • Breaking News: Female suicide bomber blown up in Kano

    A female suicide bomber was blown up on Sunday morning in Kano while attempting to attack some mobile policemen.
    The policemen on guard at North West University, Kano were reportedly approached by the bomber who tried to lure them for Eid-el-Fitri Sallah celebration.
    Suspecting the motive of the bomber, the policemen were said to have taken to their heels.
    The bomber however pursued them but was blown up and died when the bomb strapped on her went off.

    Details later…

  • Pregnant woman commits suicide in Edo 

    A middle aged woman from Igarra, Akoko-Edo local government council of Edo State identified as Ometere Aduga has reportedly committed suicide on Monday.
    She was said to have hanged herself with a rope tied to the ceiling fan in their family apartment and did not to leave any note.
    The mother of one whose husband is said not be resident in the State was two months pregnant.
    Eye witness account said the victim had few days ago visited a private hospital in the town where she reportedly told the hospital personnel of her intention to commit suicide because of her pregnancy.
    She was said to have been counseled against committing suicide and told to report back on Monday for medical examination.
    But last Monday, she dropped her son with a neighbour with the excuse that she was going to have her bath.
    The neighbour was said to have gone into their apartment only for her to see her naked body dangling from the rope tied to the ceiling fan.
    A source close to the family told Nation : “Ometere was a very brilliant girl who was a 300 level medical student at the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma but she was advised to withdraw due to health reasons.”
    “She had some mental disorder. She later recovered and got married but her husband is not from here and she has been staying with her parents.
    “One cannot really say what could have led to her committing suicide, whether it was as a result of the pregnancy which is believed may not be her husband’s or a relapse of her mental illness.”
    When contacted, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Hilary Udoh confirmed the incident.
    “Yes it is true but the parents said it has happened and they have taken it in good faith. They are not suspecting any foul play,” Udoh said.

  • Stemming suicide on campus

    Stemming suicide on campus

    Suicide is a planned act; it takes boldness and calculated zeal of the victim to plan and ‘successfully’ execute it. It is also the only act, in which the first successful attempt teaches victims life experience they will not come back to relive. No victim lives to tell his experience on suicide.

    However, the spate of suicide has ballooned in recent times. Many people are toeing the path of quick death because of societal frustration, academic tribulation, economic depression and some other reasons. They are fed up with life and things happening around them; they are left with no other option but suicide.

    Reasons for suicide vary from one country to another. In Nigeria, we have our own peculiar economic meltdown, a situation that is sending many citizens, who cannot cope, to their early death. For students, the society no longer supports learning to make it affordable. Some, who are ready to learn, are frustrated by stringent academic regulations, making it impossible for them to achieve their academic pursuit. They contemplate suicide as the only way out.

    Yet the government appears not to have an idea on how to salvage the situation. The society has turned upside down. People are disenchanted with development. The universities’ irresponsible fee regimes and many other challenges make many people go mad. Many persons prefer taking their life instead of having a terrible state of mind.

    But, despite the societal challenges, is suicide really the way out? For me, I prefer to die fighting than to surrender to suicide. Committing suicide leaves a huge dent on the lineage of the families of the victims and their values; neighbours would see them people with small mind. The stigmatisation and opprobrium such act bring to the family cannot be quantified. Nobody would love to have any form of relationship with such families.

    Suicide is a very serious act the government needs to pay attention to after terrorism. When people who are not ready to die contemplate suicide, we should ask questions. The rising cases of suicide in our universities should be checked by authorities.

    Drastic steps such as psycho analysis of students before admission should be introduced in higher institutions. Depression starts when a situation that seems insurmountable worries the mind for days, weeks, months or even years without sharing it with people or the authority concerned. Victims feel they don’t deserve the attention of other people or organisation. These woes keep piling up until their minds couldn’t take tolerate anymore and they start thinking the way out.

    If the suicide story is true, the recent controversial death of Oladipopu Ige, a Law student at tthe Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, should be seen as a case study. He could have been alive if he had the opportunity to share his challenges with his parents. Alas, his message to inform his mom of the suicide move did not deliver on time. His mom had a flat battery.

    Should we say it was because of the epileptic power supply that made Oladipupo’s alleged suicide successful? I will blame his friends because they saw him in solitary places at night and they could not call the authorities’ or his parents’ attention to him.

    The society is not helping matters. What else has the government done to salvage the nation from the grip of acute poverty? The youth hope for a better future; nobody is ready to shape the good future for them. Those whose zeal has not been damped by the inhuman events happening in the society they come from are dejected by the poor state of things. The rich are getting richer, while the poor court penury and sorrow without a sign of getting out of the state.

    The level of poverty is high in this country. Some people die because they could not afford N200 bus fare to their destination; they jumped onto a cheap canoe and got drowned in the river. We have resources to make things work fine in this country, but government officials steal the money for personal use. Why would the poor not contemplate suicide?

    It is time we checked corruption in the system and make life meaningful to the masses again. We cannot afford to see the future of the country waste away in suicide while we look elsewhere. If we fail to act, the present cases of suicide may have been a child’s play.

     

    Ezekiel, 300-Level Pharmacy, UNIBEN

  • ‘Paralysed’ Corps member: I’m tempted to commit suicide

    ‘Paralysed’ Corps member: I’m tempted to commit suicide

    •Begs Dickson to fund N5m for surgery abroad

    She was knocked down by a fast-moving vehicle, sustaining multiple fractures of the hip, separation of the pubic symphysis and multiple open fractures at the distal half of the left femoral bone, just above the left knee joint  

    Her friends turned down the offer to help the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) register voters in 2011. But she accepted it out of her love for her country. Perhaps, in the spirit of the old saying that one good turn deserves another, Miss Ekade Oyintarila now needs the help of her country.

    For now, nobody has come to her rescue. But she believes that if everybody eventually fails her, Governor Seriake Dickson, whom she describes as a humane gentleman and believer in youths, will come to her aide.

    All is not well with Oyintarila, a beautiful young woman, who hails from Tarakiri clan, Agbere Town, Sagbama, Dickson’s local government area. People knew her as a good sprinter. But for about three years, she has been quarantined.

    She is confined to a small room at Akenfa, a suburb of Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital. It is with difficulty and excruciating pains that the 27-year-old graduate of Economics at the Niger Delta University (NDU) carries her feet. Downcast and forlorn, she broke down in tears when the Niger Delta Report visited her.

    In fact, life has become so meaningless, hopeless and helpless that Oyintarila attempted suicide many times. “Sometimes, I even get tempted to commit suicide because of the situation I’ve found myself. I have tried suicide not once,”she sobbed.

    Her journey to tragedy started in 2010 when she was posted to Rivers State by the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) for the compulsory one year service to her fatherland. With accredited number NYSC/NDU/2010/188405, Miss Oyintarila’s dream of a better future as the first daughter and child of her father was rekindled. NYSC posted her to the Community Secondary School Akuku Toru as a place of her primary assignment.

    “When I became a graduate, I felt I had achieved one of my dreams in life. I got my NYSC letter and went to camp and came out . What I wanted to do after my youth service was to get a good job, be useful to the society, my family and myself”, she cried.

    But a decision she took to further serve the country in the capacity of INEC ad-hoc employee seems to have robbed her of her dreams. She worked for INEC as a registration official during the 2011 voters registration exercise. She registered voters at Abisa in the monthly exercise. But she was later called by INEC for a preview of her work.

    So, she obediently left for the last lap of the exercise. During the one-week preview, her travails started.

    “I had an accident. On the last day of the preview, we submitted all our computers, tools they gave to us and also collected our allowances. Actually, I was on the way to collect the allowances when I had the accident,” she recalled.

    Oyintarila was being conveyed to the place by a commercial motorcyclist. A bus hit them from behind. The impact was so much that she became unconsous.

    “I later discovered myself in an ambulance. I asked the man with me what happened. He told me it was an accident. He asked me of my people’s address. It was only my father’s phone number that was on my head then.

    “He called my dad immediately and I spoke to my dad. My father asked me not to worry, that I was going to be okay. That was the last thing I remembered. I went back into a coma”, she narrated.

    When she eventually regained consciousness, she found herself at Keme Hospital at Mile 1, Diobu. She was in a terrible state as the doctors battled to save her from bleeding to death. Her pelvic and right leg were all damaged. She went under the knife for series of surgeries and different types of iron were fixed on her by the surgeons. She spent about two months at the hospital.

    Oyintarila thought she had a glimmer of hope at some point. She found herself in the same ward with the former President of the Ijaw National Congress (INC). Being an Ijaw girl, she mistook it for a divine coincidence. But her hope was dashed.

    “I was at the recovery ward, the INC former President was even in the same ward and some government officials were coming to see the man. I tried to get their attention – to let them know what was happening to me and that I needed help – nobody was willing to help”, she said.

    From February 24, 2011 when the accident occurred, Oyintarila was catered for by the hospital. But on first week of April, she was discharged and she came back to her family in Yenagoa.

    Indeed, it has been a tale of woes since she came back home. Life has been tortuous. Even with various walking aides, she finds it difficult and painful to move beyond her room.

    There is, however, some silver lining in the sky. In his desire to make her daughter bounce back to her feet again, Deacon Gesiye Ekande, took her to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Yenagoa following referral by the Keme Hospital.

    After examining her, a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Dr. Chibuzor Peter, wrote: “The patient was knocked down by a fast-moving vehicle sustaining multiple fractures of the hip, separation of the pubic symphysis and multiple open fractures at the distal half of the left femoral bone, just above the left knee joint.

    “She has had external fixation of the fractured bones with only little improvement. She still cannot walk unaided. She will benefit from total hip and knee replacement which we do not have facilities for here. Kindly grant her any necessary assistance due her to enable her do these surgeries abroad”.

    In the spirits of the recommendations, Ekande started hunting for for an orthopedic hospital abroad that could solve his beloved daughter’s problem. He took his search to India through inquiries and later settled for Aditya Brila Memorial Hospital. But he was shocked. He must raise N5million for the treatment. The hospital assured him that his daughter would walk again after the treatment.

    Without mincing words, Ekande and her daughter are at a crossroad. He has no money again having already committed about N2million to her daughter’s treatment. He, however, has optimism that Dickson, the governor of the state and other philanthropic individuals will come to his aide.

    He wrote a letter to the governor requesting for assistance. The letter dated July 29, 2013, appealed to the governor to assist her daughter walk again. “Since the accident occurred, she has been undergoing treatment and has not recovered even though l have spent over N1million for her treatment.

    “Therefore, l appeal for N5million to cover medical expenses for her and one attendant, visa expense, tickets and accommodation”, the letter begged.

    The governor received the letter and sent acknowledgement dated August 15, 2013 and signed by the Chief of Staff, Mrs. Dido Waltson-Jack, to the family of Ekande. Dickson further sent his Commissioner for Health, Dr. Anapurere Awoli to visit Oyintarila and assess her condition. The commissioner visited the family and rekindled the hope of the victim.

    But Oyintarila’s hope has been hanging. She has not heard from the governor despite the claims by the commissioner that he forwarded a memo of his recommendations on the victim’s condition to his office on August 21, 2013.

    In a letter dated November 12, 2013, Oyintarila thanked the governor for sending his commissioner to her. She reminded the governor that the file of her case had been sent to his table.

    She begged: “His excellency, l now have a renewed hope that l can walk again as my file is on your table for approval. I am a hard-working girl. I was serving my nation Nigeria on INEC assignment as a corps member when l had an accident.

    “But NYSC and INEC abandoned me at my critical time in hospital and now. Most of my colleagues are all working now but l am still on clutches. Please, sir, help me so that l can go for the final surgery in India to enable me work and contribute my services to the Restoration Agenda.”

    In fact, as contained in his letter, Oyintarila insisted that neither INEC nor NYSC had come to her aide. During her period at Keme Hospital, she said only NYSC Local Inspector identified simply as Sandra visited her.

    She regretted that the accident prevented him from familiarising herself with other officials of NYSC and discharging her duties at the place of her primary assignment.

    “Sandra was always coming around. Sandra was the one telling them what actually happened. After I came back home in Yenagoa, she came about three times. I asked what I was going to do with my situation.

    “She said they were working on my matter and they would see what they would do. But she stopped coming. Since then, NYSC has not shown interest anymore”

    While praising Keme Hospital for its efforts, she said the hospital treated her free throughout the period she was there. But she is optimistic that her benevolent governor in the spirits of the restoration agenda will restore her health.

    “I know the gov is not aware of my plight. He is a man with heart of gold. But he is not aware. I am appealing to the governor to help me to be able to walk again.

    “I feel so terrible. I feel so abandoned because I never believe that more than two years now, I can’t walk knowing full well that I was not at home when I got the accident. I was on duty for my nation.

    “I had some friends that did not do the INEC registration but I volunteered myself. Leaving me at my point of need is so frustrating, so painful. If my parents had the money to send me out, I would have been freed from this. That is why I am begging public spirited individuals and govt to help me.

    “Right now, I am just helpless. I am here like somebody who did not go to school. In the morning I wake up, eat and sleep. No help from anywhere. So it is frustrating. The psychological effect I am going through is unimaginable”, she lamented.

    Oyintarila is sure that the Indian hospital will make her walk again. “I know someone that had a similar problem after my own. The family was able to send her to India and she is back fit. I know that if I go, I will be bouncing back on my feet again.

    Also, the father of the victim appealed to the government, INEC and NYSC for assistance. He recalled that he as a politician played a crucial role in the process that led to the emergence of Dickson as the governor.

    Describing Dickson as his friend, he said they were so close that they fondly called each other by the title, Angadiowei. Identifying himself as a stalwart of the Ijaw National Congress (INC) Ekande said people should not abandon him at the time of his need.

    “The help I need from people now is to come to my aid to see how I came take my only daughter out of this country to India for surgery. She had this accident when she was serving the country – doing her NYSC. When she had the accident, she was on her NYSC uniform.

    “So I am calling on NYSC, INEC, Rivers State Government to come to my aid so that I can take her to India. I contacted clinics and hospitals in India and I have been assured that her case is what they could handle.

    “Her hip bone needs replacement because her bone is not growing to join. It is disjointed – it is growing out of proportion – one leg is shorter than the other leg.

    “The knee cap needs a replacement. The knee cannot bend. That knee cap is broken and it needs replacement. Doctors and specialists have indicated interest that they could do it.

    “From their profiles on the internet, I have seen cases they have done. I am convinced it is something they can do. So the constraint now is the fund. On my own, I wrote the bayelsa state governor appealing for assistance and and the governor has directed the commissioner for health to prepare a memo and send to him.

    “The file or memo is stuck in between the commissioner and governor’s office. I am appealing to the governor to graciously assist by asking for the file.

    “I am a peace-loving man. If it were some people, they would have gone to court, to let the world know what happened. I am using peaceful means to see how nysc, inec and state govts – bayelsa and river can assist.

    “I have spent over N1.3m for different orthopedic consultants, xray treatment. When she came back, she came back in a terrible condition where she had iron all over her body – stomach, leg and waist.

    “At her hip bone, you see iron there. We thank God. You heard what she said that she attempted suicide. I did not know that. If not I would have lost her.”

     

  • Suspected suicide bombers strike again in Maiduguri

    A triple bomb blast occurred today in the Molai area off Dambua road in Maiduguri.

    Eye witnesses said that the suicide bombers drove their vehicles directly into two vehicle of the military personnel inflicting heavy causality on them.

    Four suicide bombers were said to have lost their lives after the vehicle of the bombers suspected to be Boko Haram insurgents collided with the military vehicles.

    Trucks were seen taken several causalities to the hospital but the exact figures were not known as at the time of filing this report.

  • Mystery over law student’s death

    Mystery over law student’s death

    How did Oladipupo Maranantha Ige die? This is the puzzle students of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Ile-Ife, Osun State, could not unravel last week when news of the rumoured suicide of the 400-Level Law student broke. OLUWAFEMI OGUNJOBI (400-Level Language Arts) reports.

    “By the time you read this, I would have been dead.” That was the text the late Oladipupo Ige allegedly sent to his mother’s mobile phone on that fateful day.

    His mother, it was learnt, did not get the text in time because her phone was off. Several minutes later, Oladipupo was found dead in his room. He allegedly committed suicide.

    The incident happened last week in Asherifa Hostel, opposite the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Ile-Ife, Osun State. The late Oladipupo was a 400-Level Law student.

    But the police disagreed with the suicide theory. The Osun State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Folashade Odoro, a Deputy Superintendent (DSP), said the student died of “stomach ache”.

    Students besieged the hostel, following the news of Oladipupo’s death. The late student reportedly left a written statement detailing how his properties should be shared. His books should be buried with him, he was said to have written.

    The late Oladipupo, who was in his early 20s, reportedly left for his hostel on Friday without telling his neighbours where he was going. He returned in the evening of the following day, after which he composed the text he sent to his parents.

    CAMPUSLIFE learnt that when his mother got the text around 10pm, she called Bola Okiji, the late Oladipupo’s close friend and classmate. Okiji was said not to have been around at the time. Mrs Ige then sent a woman living around the school to check on her son.

    On getting to the late Oladipupo’s hostel, the door was found locked from behind. When the woman peeped through the door, she reportedly saw the late Ige’s body dangling. She alerted other occupants and they broke into the deceased’s room.

    When our correspondent visited the house, the neighbours declined to speak. One of them, who did not want her name in print, said: “Lately, Oladipupo had been doing weird things; at times, he would wake up in the midnight and start washing the toilet. Sometimes, he would be banging his door at midnight.”

    Emmanuella Odum, the deceased’s friend, described his death as unimaginable. “We still played together on Friday after lectures, before he left the campus. Why he contemplated suicide is what I cannot explain,” she said.

    Okiji described the late Oladipupo as a brilliant student, who could have graduated with a Second Class (Upper Division). Okiji said his friend could not have committed suicide for academic reason.

    Last Sunday, the late Oladipupo’s parents conveyed his remains to their Iree, Osun State hometown.

    When our correspondent visited the Law Faculty, his classmates were seen discussing in hushed tones. “He was a recluse and kept to himself; he never talked to anyone. When I go to read at the faculty, he would be seen at dark spots, staring into space. At times, he would question the existence of God. I think he had a weird personality,” a classmate said.

    Ayotola Tehingbola, in an article published on the faculty’s notice board, described Oladipupo’s death as shocking. She wondered why the deceased would contemplate suicide, noting: “Oladipupo, I don’t know what went through your head in the last few hours of your life, but I am sorry that you saw life as not being worth it. I cannot begin to imagine the fear and hopelessness you felt in the last hour of your life.

    “I met Oladipupo on my matriculation day. His dad and my dad worked in the same company at that time; so it was sensible for us to meet. I vividly remember the last time I spoke to him, just before the Nigeria University Games (NUGA) began. We stood, laughed, argued and scribbled in front of Auditorium II.”

    The Vice-Chancellor, Prof Bamitale Omole, has condoled with the bereaved family, saying the institution shared in its grief.

    There are insinuations that the late Oladipupo may have died of bipolar disorder – acute depression. But the police said the deceased called a friend, identified as Olajuwon, moments before his death. He was said to have complained of stomach ache. According to the police, Oladipupo died before Olajuwon reached him.

     

  • Girl, 8, allegedly commits suicide in Nsukka

    An eight-year-old girl was found dead on Monday in the bathroom of her family compound at Red House Bus Stop, Ofolonu Road, Nsukka, Enugu State, in a circumstance suspected to be suicide.

    An eye witness who pleaded anonymity told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the lifeless body of the girl was found about 3.20 p.m. hanging from a wood in the bathroom.

    “I was surprised because I saw the girl playing with other children when I was going out to buy something from the market.

    “I wonder what will make an eight-year-old to commit suicide.

    “Another thing that surprised me is that the two legs of the child were on the ground, which is not normal when one commits suicide; the legs should be dangling,’’ she said.

    The witness urged the police and other relevant security agencies to investigate the death of the child, adding that the rope on the child’s neck was “not strong enough to kill her, if really she committed suicide’’.

    “I know the police investigation will unravel the real circumstance behind the suspected suicide,’’ she said.

    The victim’s guardian, Mr. David Ajibo, told NAN that the child lived with him, adding that she was the daughter of his brother in-law.

    “This girl has been staying with us since her father died. I am shocked as I do not know what to say; only God knows what happened.

    “She was hale and hearty when I left the house in the morning, and I wondered what would make a girl of eight to commit suicide,’’ he said.

    Contacted, Mr Ebere Amarizu, Enugu State Police Public Relation Officer (PPRO), confirmed that the girl allegedly hung herself in the bathroom, adding that the police had commenced investigation into the incident.

    “The corpse of the deceased is now deposited at the Bishop Shanahan Hospital mortuary in Nsukka,’’ he said.

  • Tension as NOUN student found dead inside his room

    There is tension in Nnobi and environs following the sudden death of an Okada operator Uchenna Omeh reportedly found dead in his room in Ifite village Nnobi community Anambra State three days after he was released from police detention.
    But the Police Pubic Relations Officer (PPRO)  Emeka Chukwuemeka said unofficial reports had it that the man committed suicide but assured that he was yet to get the official report on the matter.
    “I have not been briefed officially on the matter but an unofficial report had it that the man committed suicide. When I am briefed I will tell you’’.
    At the scene of the incident, Omeh’s body has been removed, and the door to his room shut with all members of the compound on the run for fear of being arrested by the police to explain what they know on the incident.
    Late Omeh was also a palm fruit cutter and a student of National Open University, according to neighbours died three days after he was released from police cell under mysterious circumstances
    Omeh was a native of Abakaliki in Ebonyi State. He was said to be having a running battle with the brother of his landlord identified as Ifeanyi Nsofor before his sudden death yesterday.
    His legs were said to have been burnt severely and his body bruised even as his hands were resting as if he was battling to free himself from unseen assailants.
    His dead body was found dangling from a rope tied to the ceiling in his room at Nsofor’s Compound in Ifite Nnobi where he lives even as it was said that prior to his death Omeh and Ifeanyi had a bitter quarrel over the burning of refuse close to his window by Ifeanyi ‘s wife which allegedly made Ifeanyi to invite the police to arrest him.
    After the alleged arrest and detention, late Omeh was released Wednesday and was last seen Friday evening after taking his bath and going into his room but never woke until yesterday the alarm was raised about his lifeless body.
    But the late Omeh’s landlord brother Ifeanyi Nsofor admitted having problem with the late Omeh which led him to invite the police to arrest Omeh, explaining that he involved the police because of threat from the deceased to kill him with a cutlass.
    His words, “Yes we had a quarrel over burning of refuse. He went and carried a cutlass and threatened to kill me. I took his photograph and went to invite the police .He was arrested on Wednesday and released on Friday. I was not at home when it happened. I heard he hanged himself”, Nsofor said