by Chi Ibe

Devastating news came in yesterday from University of Nigeria, Nsukka as Onyebuchi Okonkwo, a 300 level Physics and Astronomy student of the university was found dead on the campus at the hockey pitch of Akanu Ibiam Stadium.

It was a very distressing sight for the people who discovered his lifeless body hanging from the roof of an incomplete building behind the hockey pitch; hanging from a noose made from an electric cable. A kitchen knife was found at the scene close to his body, along with Physics textbooks.

The Punch reports that Okonkwo was the class representative of 300 level Physics and Astronomy students and was on the scholarships of MTN, Shell, and that of his community in Oraukwu Town, Idemili Local Government Area of Anambra State.

The Dean, Student Affairs Unit, Prof. Chukwuemeka Oyeoku, described the incident as “unfortunate and shocking”. “No matter what the problem is, the best is not to commit suicide. There is no problem shared with friends and relations that cannot be solved. Today is a sad day for the university,”   Prof. Oyeoku decried.

One of Okonkwo’s friends, said, “He was on Shell and MTN scholarships, so I’m surprised and shocked over what could have led him to take his life. We attended lectures together on Wednesday afternoon at Centre for Entrepreneurship and Development Research. He sent me and some other friends a text message around 11:43pm to meet him at the hockey pitch, only [for us] to get there and discover that he had committed suicide,” he said amidst tears. “One of his brothers is a manager in one of the banks, only God knows what happened. Onyebuchi had no problem with anybody.”

According to the police, Okonkwo’s body has been placed at the university’s medical centre mortuary and investigations had already begun.