Nigeria witnessed an unprecedented spate of suicides in 2019, especially with media coverage of such incidents. Some schools of thought have argued that suicide incidents had existed in Nigeria possibly on a large scale but most of such incidents were never reported in the media. Well, 2019 saw a number of incidents reported in social and mainstream media.
The alarming rate of suicides that took place in Nigeria in 2019 remains as a puzzle to many people. It is now a fact that 2019 recorded the highest rate of suicide incidents among Nigerians in modern times with 70 reported cases in the media. Some analysts have argued that the media are majorly or partly responsible for suicide rates in most societies based on what is called ‘suicide contagion’ which is a form of copy cat suicide. This means that people are likely to commit suicide after exposure to suicidal behaviour especially through the mass media. Some other schools of thought say many other factors are responsible for suicide rates apart from media reports on the incident. Among such factors are frustration, failed relationships, poor academic performance, and depression. The sad news is that suicide incidents have continued to pop up in 2020 premised on almost the same reasons as the incidents in 2019. Here is a list of suicide incidents in Nigeria that took place in April, 2020 as reported by the media.
CASE ONE
Story Title: Native doctor commits suicide in Abia
Victim’s Name: Friday Onyeonoziri
Marital Status: Married
Date: April 4
Gender: Male
Age: Late 30s
Method: Hanging
Reason: Mental Health challenge
Type: Suicide
Occupation: Native Doctor
State Where incident Happened: Abia
Victim’s State of Origin: Not given
Story Summary:
Abia Police Commissioner, CP Ene Okon, has confirmed the death of a native doctor who reportedly committed suicide near his shrine located at the back of his house.
Okon, in a telephone interview, said that the deceased identified as Onyeonoziri Friday was said to have committed suicide in front of “his juju shrine”.
…The native doctor, according to findings, resides at Ukpakiri village in Amaise autonomous community in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State.
The deceased, in his late thirties, was said to have hanged himself while his pregnant wife and son were sleeping inside their house.
Source: The Nation
CASE TWO
Story Title: 23-year-old female commits suicide in Mpape
Victim’s Name: Rejoice
Marital Status: Single
Date: April 4
Gender: Female
Age: 23
Method: Sniper
Reason: Failed relationship
Type: Suicide
Occupation: Not given
State Where incident Happened: Abuja (Federal Capital Territory)
Victim’s State of Origin: Not given
Story Summary:
A 23 year old female lover, simply called Rejoice, Saturday, committed suicide by drinking a deadly substance, sniper, in GRA area of Mpape, a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, over alleged abandonment of her boy-friend.
Source: Vanguard
CASE THREE
Story Title: 23 Nursing mother commits suicide over alleged pressure from husband
Victim’s Name: Esther Frank
Marital Status: Married
Date: April 9
Gender: Female
Age: Not given
Method: Sniper
Reason: Frustration (over relationship)
Type: Suicide
Occupation: Not given
State Where incident Happened: Akwa Ibom
Victim’s State of Origin: Anambra
Story Summary:
One Mrs Esther Frank resident in Uyo, on Thursday night, took her life over alleged pressure and lies from her husband.
The deceased was said to have left a suicide note for her husband and two children, saying she was tired of the pressure.
It was gathered that the deceased drank a bottle of sniper and lay down unconscious in her room when she was discovered by neighbours who rushed her to St Luke’s Hospital in Anua, Uyo, where she eventually died.
Source: Daily Post
CASE FOUR
Story Title: Man commits suicide after wife told him their only child was fathered by a stranger
Victim’s Name: Jacob Numku
Marital Status: Married
Date: April
Gender: Female
Age: Not given
Method: Hanging
Reason: Frustration (over relationship)
Type: Suicide
Occupation: Farmer
State Where incident Happened: Nassarawa
Victim’s State of Origin: Nassarawa
Story Summary:
It is naturally a nightmare for a man to be told by his wife that he is not the father of their child or children. And the case of Jacob Numku, a farmer and petty trader from Toto community in Nasarawa State, was not any different. He decided to end it all after a shocking declaration by his wife that their only child was fathered by another man.
The entire Numku family is in turmoil with the revelation by Juliet that their five-month-old baby was actually fathered by a young man named Uchena, whom she had met in the course of business. Although Numku had become depressed and withdrawn in the days following the shocking revelation by Juliet, no one in the family suspected that he could go to the extent of taking his own life.
Source: The Nation
CASE FIVE
Story Title: Man commits suicide after wife told him their only child was fathered by a stranger
Victim’s Name: Seyi Akinade
Marital Status: Single
Date: April 21
Gender: Male
Age: Not given
Method: Not given
Reason: Frustration
Type: Suicide
Occupation: Student
State Where incident Happened: Lagos
Victim’s State of Origin: Not given
Story Summary:
Rumours making rounds on social media is that a boy by name Seyi Akinade took his own life after allegedly maltreated by officials of the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS).
A Twitter user who claimed to be Seyi’s elder brother bemoaned the loss of his brother especially after missing the clues the deceased left as to what he was going through.
He alleged that his brother committed suicide out of depression from the maltreatment that was meted out to him by SARS officials.
Source: Breaking Times
CASE SIX
Story Title: Lockdown: 45-year-old man commits suicide in Imo
Victim’s Name: Osita Ezuruike
Marital Status: Single
Date: April 27
Gender: Male
Age: 45
Method: Hanging
Reason: Frustration
Type: Suicide
Occupation: Not given
State Where incident Happened: Imo
Victim’s State of Origin: Imo
Story Summary:
A 45-year-old man, Osita Ezuruike, on Tuesday, committed suicide in his house at Umudafa, Awo Mbieri in the Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State.
Sources at the community said the deceased expressed frustration with life over the lockdown and the dusk-to-dawn curfew declared by the state government.
The police spokesperson in the state, Orlando Ikeokwu, told PUNCH that the Ezuruike’s corpse had been taken to a morgue.
Ikeokwu also said an investigation into the incident had commenced.
The police spokesperson said, “On April 27, acting on a report, operatives of the Divisional Police headquarters in Mbieri moved to Umudafa, Awo Mbieri, Mbaitoli LGA, in a house belonging to one Osita Ezuruike, 45, and met the lifeless body of the said Osita hanging.
Source: Punch
