By Timothy Ojo
Exactly ten days after a 21-year-old fresh Quantity Surveying graduate of the University of Lagos, Toju Daibo Davies, reportedly committed suicide by plunging into the Lagos Lagoon on the Third Mainland Bridge, a graduating student of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, has also taken his own life.
It was fresh horror, Tuesday morning, as residents of Poultry Oyinbo area of Ayobo in the Ipaja/Ayobo Local Development Area, Lagos, woke up and found Emmanuel Efosa Oboh, 25, unresponsive in his room with a bottle of the deadly sniper insecticide lying by his body.
Fondly called Efosa, the deceased, who turned 25 last January 18, was a sociology student of the Obafemi Awolowo University where he ought to have graduated since 2016. But he had repeatedly failed a few courses.
Family sources told The Crest, Tuesday, that Efosa, who lost his father in 2016, returned from OAU last Saturday and had shown no sign of depression nor suicidal symptoms. In fact, he was said to have been in a very high spirit despite his frustrations in his academic work.
One of his friends, who spoke to this reporter on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter, disclosed that “he even hanged out with us on Sunday. We watched the English Premier League game involving his favourite team, Manchester United. We also watched the Arsenal versus Everton match together and he was full of life.
“He never showed signs that anything was bothering him. In fact, he threw banters freely and made everybody laugh. We never knew we would never see him again. We never knew that was the last time we would see him alive. It is a big tragedy.”
The mother of the deceased, who is yet to fully recover from the death of her husband, was inconsolable on Tuesday. Efosa was her last born; and residents said she was fond of the young man. Her older children were said to have evacuated her from the house which has since been placed under lock and key.
Residents spoke well of Efosa. They described him as an easy-going man who loved the company of his friends and showed love to all who crossed his path.
Like his mother, Efosa was said to have been devastated when he lost his father in 2016. Indeed, his friends said he was so devastated by his dad’s demise that he deferred his academics by one session. But they said he never fell into depression.
Efosa, an indigene of Edo State, attended the Great Grace Private Schools, Lagos, where he was nicknamed “Biggie”, due to his plump size and his happy face.
The death of his father and his academic stuttering proved to be a stumbling block. From 2016, Efosa had been battling for three years with getting over the finish line in the university.
According to his friends, the problem became a big albatross on the man’s neck so much so that he never liked talking about his academic life. He would always find ways to redirect discussions to football or Hip-hop, his favourite genre of music.
Before he reportedly took his life, Monday night, he was said to have confided in his mother that he had failed again. But to his friends, his story was that he was awaiting his call-up for the mandatory one-year national youth service’.
Sadly, he would never serve again.
