Suicidal: 21-year-old man explains why he tried to kill himself

The young man was saved by his sister, who rushed him to a hospital, after finding him unconscious at their residence.

An OND student of the Lagos State Polytechnic, Tunde Olaniyan, has explained why he tried to kill himself by drinking poison.

Olaniyan, 21, told Vanguard that he attempted to kill himself after losing a sum of N45,000, which his family gathered through serious pain.

He explained that he lost the money, which was meant for his school fees  to pick-pockets while he was on his way to school.

His father, Amos Olaniyan, was formerly a policeman. He was dismissed by the Oyo State Police Commissioner,  Abubakar Tsav, following allegations of bribery and corruption.

Narrating his family struggle, the young man said, “My father was suspended as a Sergeant and had been engaged in all manner of menial jobs in a bid to survive. He is at the moment a driver in Ibadan, Oyo state.”

“Things have not been easy for my family. I grew up with the hope of going to the higher institution and thereafter work with the certificate, instead of taking to dubious ways of making it.”

“So, my admission letter into LASPOTECH to study accountancy came as an answered prayer to my dream. But fate has been so unkind to me, as each time I bore the hardship, I face more challenges.”

“My parents managed to give me between N800 and N1000 from Iyana- Ipaja to Isolo as pocket money for one week. Out of it is my transport fare to and fro.”

“To complement what they gave me, I resorted to work as a bus conductor. We plied Iyana-Ipaja to Yaba. I woke up as early as 5am, worked until 10am and thereafter go to school. I was earning N700 and N1000 daily, depending on the number of turns we run.”

“But I was forced to stop in my OND 1 second semester, when it started having a negative effect on my academic performance, as I sometime missed classes and didn’t have much time to read. I had no choice than to depend on my parents who were barely struggling to survive.”

On discovering that he had lost the school fees, Olaniyan stated that he made efforts to contact his uncle, who lives in Maiduguri, but all his attempts failed.

The thought of how to raise the money became a very big concern for him, as he did not want to inform his parents in order not to make them worry.

He however left a suicide note for them, where he detailed the reason he chose to take his life.

“My mother is a petty trader. They struggled to raise N45,000 for my OND 2 school fees in January. I left home that fateful day with the hope of paying the money into the bank when I got to school. But to my dismay, I discovered that the money had disappeared. Where do I get such amount was the first question that pooped into my head.”

“Quickly, I put a call across to my uncle in Maiduguri but it was not going through. I tried him all week to no avail.”

“Thought of how to pay the money enveloped my mind every time I slept in the church which served as a home to me because I could not afford to rent an apartment like other fortunate students.”

“I could not call my parents to tell them in order not to add to their burden. I could not call my older siblings either, because they all have their respective challenges.”

“I managed to finish my first semester examination and managed to hold on until the second semester in March.”

“Two weeks to the examination on May 25 2016, I could not print out my course forms because I had not paid the fees. At that moment I became confused and went home with a decision to end it all.”

“That morning, after my mother had gone to the market, with my father away in Ibadan where he works as a driver, I went to buy GO 90, an insecticide from a kiosk, for N50.”

“Thereafter, I scribbled a suicide note informing my parents the reason I had to take my life. I dropped the letter and drank the liquid substance while I waited for death to come.”

“About five minutes later, the first sign of death came with a sharp pain in my abdomen. Then, the whole apartment began to spin. That was all I could remember, as I passed out.”

“I was later told my sister came to my rescue. She rushed me to Omoju hospital in Baruwa area of Ipaja”, Olaniyan concluded.