A tragic incident unfolded at a private tertiary institution in Abeokuta, Ogun State, where a 300-level student reportedly took her own life.
According to reports from Daily Trust, the student, who was studying Basic Medical Science at Havarde College of Science, Business, and Management Studies, was found deceased in her off-campus hostel room on Monday evening. It is suspected that she ingested a poisonous substance, believed to be Sniper.
Sources close to the situation revealed that the student had been battling depression for some time, likely exacerbated by the news of an unwanted pregnancy. Additionally, her mental health deteriorated upon learning that her course had not been accredited by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN).
One source shared, “For more than four months now, she (deceased) had been depressed because of the fact that the course she was studying was not accredited. She used to complain because she claimed her parents used all the money they had to send her to the school. Things now got worse when she discovered she was pregnant and she could not even have a certificate for the course she had done for years.”
However, the provost of the institution, Dr. Ismail Oyetunji, clarified that the circumstances surrounding the student’s death occurred outside the school premises. He explained that the student’s parents had visited the school the previous week to collect her belongings after learning about her pregnancy.
Dr. Oyetunji stated, “A 300-level nursing student was reported to me this morning by our dean of students affair to have committed suicide. She was impregnated by her boyfriend. Her parent got to know and came last week to pack her belongings from the school. She came back to Abeokuta and thereafter decided to commit suicide. She was rushed to Hope Hospital by her boyfriend in the Adigbe area of Abeokuta where she eventually died.”
When asked about a potential connection between the suicide and the non-accreditation of the nursing program, Dr. Oyetunji emphasized that the student took her life due to the pregnancy and not the accreditation issue.
Meanwhile, the Nursing Department of the college has been shut down by the Ogun State government for allegedly offering a degree program in Nursing Sciences without accreditation from the NMCN for six years.
