How FUTA student committed suicide over fraud allegations

Details have emerged about the motive behind the purported suicide of Joseph Olona, a 300-level student of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, FUTA.

DAILY POST gathered that Joseph, a student of the Department of Industrial Design whose lifeless body was found hanging in his room on Saturday, was the Financial Secretary of his department before his demise.

He was said to have committed suicide in his off-campus lodge after he was alleged to have been depressed over issues relating to finances.

According to Enoch Omoniyi, a close friend of the deceased, the problem is not unconnected to the sum of N100,000, which happened to be departmental dues kept in his care when the institution resumed for the 2021/2022 session.

Enoch, a next-door neighbour to the deceased, claimed Joseph collected the dues on behalf of the treasurer of the department who was not around to receive payment.

According to him, trouble began for Joseph when the president of the department asked him to send N100,000 to him for a departmental project.

Joseph was said to have sent the money through a digital bank app identified as Carbon which was not received by the President even after the digital bank debited him.

He stressed that the situation affected the deceased enormously after the bank did not respond to the series of emails over the transfer, adding that the incident led to many ostracising him.

Emphasising that Joseph did not attend lectures after the Christmas break because of the pressure, Enoch gave a timeline of the last 24 hours of the deceased.

His narration: “Yesterday morning, I went to get my phone from Joseph because his phone is faulty and we both shared my phone. He informed me that his HOD called his daddy and said he was involved in fraud. He was very disturbed about it. He requested to follow me to my office at the Students Union Building (SUB) because he didn’t want to stay alone. I left him at the office to attend the homecoming event held at T.I. Francis Auditorium and also watched the Awopegba match.

“When I got back to the office, he had already locked the office door. He came back to give me the keys and left. When I got home, I forced him to eat. At 7:40 pm, I knocked on his door but he didn’t open it. I left, thinking he was still angry with me for leaving him at the office. At 8:30 pm, I knocked again but there was no response. At 10:01 pm, I tried again but there was no response and I went to sleep.

“This morning, I went to knock around 8 am but there was no response. I had to go and check through his window and I saw him hanging from the ceiling.”

The President of the Student Union, Jesunifemi Asoore, also confirmed the tragedy.

“It is with deep sadness and heavy hearts that we inform you of the death of our colleague and friend, Olona Joseph Oluwapelumi, popular known as Tart Angle, who passed away on Saturday, 21 January 2023,” he said.