A devastating incident has shaken the University of Ilorin community as 20-year-old student Sanni Hameedat took her own life after lending a considerable sum of N500,000 to an individual she met on Snapchat.
According to a statement from Rubiks, the private hostel management where Hameedat resided before her untimely demise, she was participating in her SIWES program at the time of the incident. The management disclosed that her tragic death was driven by a series of events related to financial pressures and emotional distress.
Reportedly, Hameedat, entrusted with a significant sum of money by her mother, encountered a young man on Snapchat who claimed his mother was battling breast cancer and urgently needed N500,000. Out of compassion, she lent him half of the N1 million she held for her mother, with the boy promising to repay the borrowed funds.
However, when her mother needed the money back, the boy abruptly cut off all contact and blocked her, leaving her deeply troubled. To recover the missing N500,000, she resorted to borrowing money from various apps, eventually amassing N450,000 from these loans and adding her savings of N50,000 to reach the borrowed N500,000.
The management further detailed that Hameedat was discovered in distress by her roommate, who awoke in the middle of the night to find her foaming at the mouth and vomiting. Alarmed by the situation, her roommate sought immediate help, and Hameedat was rushed to UITH but was tragically declared dead.
University authorities, including the Dean of Student Affairs, Prof M.T. Yakubu, and the Head of Corporate Affairs, Kunle Akogun, were unavailable for comment as they participated in the 37th and 38th combined convocation ceremony.
However, the Student Union President, Ologundudu Adesunkanmi, confirmed the incident and supported the hostel management's account. He stated that the Vice-Chancellor and Dean of Student Affairs were aware of the situation and had initiated a full investigation, expressing deep sorrow for the tragic loss within the university community.
Further details are awaited as the investigation continues.
