Reports of people killing themselves are
fast becoming a recurring decimal. This raises questions about the
mental health of Nigerians.
Reconstructing the history of Ahmed
Omobumbe’s short life is not an easy task. However, the little details
available to the public are, on the surface of it, not enough to make
anyone take his own life. Yet, Omobumbe saw suicide as the way out of
his challenges and opted for it. That was on April 7, 2012.
According to police
reports, the 40-year-old man who lived on Orisan Street, Ajangbadi,
Lagos, got frustrated after
battling with an undisclosed ailment for a
while.
Omobumbe, a single
parent and an indigene of Auchi, Edo State, waited for his two children
to go to bed before hanging himself. His corpse was discovered by one of
his children around 10am the next day.
Mrs. Oyeronke Olademo is
a professor at the Department of Religious Studies, University of
Ilorin. Her husband, Olubunmi, was found dangling from a tree in the
family’s uncompleted building at Oke-Odo, Tanke, Ilorin, on March 21.
Reports had it that
Olubunmi, a businessman, had requested some money from his wife the
previous day but Oyeronke was said to have declined his request. He had
initially left a note threatening to commit suicide if his wife refused
to give him the money before he finally committed the act.
Before anyone jumps into
conclusion that those who commit suicide in later life probably do so
because of their inability to confront midlife crisis, how about youth
who, ordinarily, have a lot of opportunities laid before them and who,
even when they stumble, still have the opportunity to start afresh, but
who tend to see suicide as an easy solution to life’s challenges?
Such is the case of a
third year Physics and Astronomy student of the University of Nigeria,
Nsukka, Onyebuchi Okonkwo, who was reported to be in his early 20s. He
committed suicide by hanging on May 31.
Okonkwo, who was once
his class representative, was said to have sent his friends a text
message around 11:43pm, asking them to meet him at the school’s hockey
pitch. His friends heeded his invitation but they were shocked to see
that he only invited them to see his dead body.
In Osun State, there
have been two reported cases of youths committing suicide this year
alone. One of the cases involved a Junior Secondary School One pupil,
Yusuf Ifawale, who hanged himself in Ilobu.
Ifawale played a fast
one on his unsuspecting parents, as he had taken permission to go and
buy bread in the neighbourhood. When he didn’t return on time, they went
searching for him, only to find his body dangling on a tree in the
community’s primary school. He did not leave a suicide note, and his
folk had no idea why he took his own life.
In the case of a
27-year-old National Diploma graduate of Osun State Polytechnic, Iree,
Muili Awolumate, friends and neighbours were able to hazard a guess as
to why he took his own life in Ifon area of the state. Awolumate
committed suicide after three years of unemployment, they said.
If Awolumate saw
self-murder as a way out of unemployment, 52-year-old Italian, Mauro
Zanin, probably took the option to save face.
Zanin was allegedly
involved in a $111,000 fraud, and while he was still being held in
protective custody by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in
Abuja, he committed suicide on June 19.
Zanin reportedly took
his own life by strangling himself with a bed spread at the EFCC
detention facility a day to his arraignment at the Federal High Court,
Abuja. Five criminal charges bordering on fraud had been filed against
him.
Residents of Basiri area
of Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, were thrown into confusion in
September 2010 when they woke up on a Saturday morning and found the
body of a 19-year-old boy hanging on a ceiling fan in a church
auditorium.
The body of the boy who
was identified as Aderemi Ademosu was found by some women who had gone
to clean the church, popularly known as Alajahora, in preparation for
the Sunday worship service. The women were shocked to see the boy
dangling right inside the church, even as the doors and the windows were
firmly shut. The women’s noise attracted people in the neighbourhood.
Ademosu’s death raised
suspicion, as some believed that he was killed and his corpse was hung
inside the church to create an impression that he committed suicide.
Sources in the
neighbourhood said though Ademosu’s two relations lived in Ado-Ekiti,
when he arrived from his base in Akure, Ondo State, where he was based,
he opted to stay with one of his friends.
Ademosu’s friends and
neighbours said he wanted to re-sit the Senior School Certificate
Examination, but that he had a quarrel with one of his relations a night
before the tragic incident. He was found dead the following morning
inside the church.
But if Ademosu’s death
was intriguing, the alleged suicide of a five-year-old boy, Feranmi
Oloyede, at Moferere Area of Ado-Ekiti, was more puzzling.
Feranmi, who was said to
be in Primary One in a school in Ikere-Ekiti, was found dangling on a
tree at the back of his parents’ residence.
The boy was said to be
playing with a rope which he allegedly tied to the branch of a tree at
the back of the house while standing on a table. He was suspected to
have swung the rope around his neck, kicked away the support from
underneath his feet and died in the process.
The incident caused
pandemonium in the area as many wondered how a five-year-old-boy could
have the strength to tie a rope tightly to the tree where he eventually
hanged.
Miss Abiola Aderonke
revealed that she, too, had contemplated suicide following her inability
to secure a job as a result of a disability occasioned by an accident.
Aderonke lost her left
arm in an auto crash along Ondo-Akure Road. She said she had had to live
with the stigma of having one arm, with the attendant hardship of
learning how to live with the disability without any economic support.
The problem made her to
think of killing herself, and she would have done so but for providence
which brought her in contact with Governor Kayode Fayemi.
Fayemi saw her during a
Free Health Mission in Ikogosi, and promised to procure an artificial
limb for her so that she could continue living without any inhibition.
It was this promise that saved Aderonke from her suicide mission.
But then, why would anybody want to take his or her own life? Professionals proffer suggestions.
According to the World
Health Organisation statistics, globally, one person commits suicide
every 40 seconds. Consequently, it is the 13th leading cause of death
worldwide.
Worldwide, WHO says, the
suicide rate has gone up by 60 per cent over the last five decades,
mainly in industrialised nations. It however states that there is hardly
any country that is immune to the problem.
And, according to
Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America-based Adult, Child and
Adolescent Psychiatrist, Dr. Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, nearly one million
people worldwide commit suicide each year, with anywhere from 10 million
to 20 million suicide attempts annually.
In recent times, Nigeria
has witnessed an upward trend in suicide cases which transcends gender,
age group, social class and religion.
A Consultant
Psychiatrist at the Federal Neuro-Psychiatrist Hospital, Yaba, Lagos,
Dr. Wale Ogunlowo, said suicide was the commonest cause of psychiatric
death, adding that it was fast creeping into the Nigerian society.
He said, “The incidence
of suicide is fast increasing in Nigeria, but the problem is that it is
being poorly reported because of our cultural beliefs. The world over,
it is the commonest cause of psychiatric death.
“The issue is that, to
the mind of the person contemplating suicide, it appears to be an
effective way to end their pain. They feel that their pain is
intolerable, inescapable, and interminable. However, this is not the way
to solve a problem.”
Ogunlowo attributed the
increasing rate of suicide in the country to the socio-economic problems
bedevilling many people, leading to depression, which might become
suicidal if not arrested in time.
He said, “Other risk
factors include a person’s inability to cope with major life stressors,
like the loss of loved ones, schizophrenia, psychosocial problems, or
alcohol and substance abuse.”
Ogunlowo noted that
there were no specific warning signs from people who contemplate
suicide, adding that the commonest documented method used in committing
the act include self-poisoning, hanging self, immolation, drowning, and
jumping from heights, among others.
“When one notices that
someone seems not to be coping with distress or depression, it is
necessary that a psychiatrist and other mental health experts are
consulted for help. Also, common objects of suicide should be totally
removed from reach and they should be closely monitored.”
He said, “People who
live alone, the elderly, those with previous suicide attempts,
personality disorders, especially those with aggressive and narcissistic
features, are at great risks of committing suicide.”
An Associate Professor
of Counseling and Correctional Psychology, University of Ibadan, Dr.
Oyesoji Aremu warned, “Depression is a sign of hopelessness,” he says.
“When this happens, an individual feels the best way to respond to a
state of hopelessness is through suicide.
“Suicide could also be
as a result of failure of coping skills. Challenges of life are normal,
but when these become overwhelming and expected social buffers (human
beings, including friends) are not there, suicide may ensue.”
To guide against
suicide, especially among the youth, Aremu advised that parents and
guardians must be their children’s friends and listen to them by
navigating with them into their world.
He said, “In Nigeria,
there are many stressors. But people should learn to speak out. Music,
especially soul-lifting songs, is another way of coping with depression
that could lead to suicide. Another way is for people to read inspiring
books. This is called bibliotherapy.”
A psychiatrist and
former Head of Psychiatry Department, Ladoke Akintola University, Osogbo
campus, Dr. Oyewole Adeoye, pointed out that suicide could be triggered
by hopelessness about one’s future, as a result of one’s socio-economic
status emanating from unemployment after such a person must have
suffered through school.
He said, “Majorly, the
fear of the future propels people to contemplate suicide, especially
when that future appears bleak due to socio-economic problems which are
triggered by unemployment.”
A sociologist and former
Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Lagos, Prof. Lai
Olurode, examined some situations in which suicide could occur.
He explained, “There is
what is called search for meaning of existence. What is the purpose of
existence? Everyone exists for something. Some people want to live big,
live in big houses, and drive big cars. But if this does not happen,
life does not have meaning anymore for such a fellow. Maybe after years
of graduation, he/she did not secure a job, ultimately, he/she may
decide to end it all by committing suicide.
“Unlike the old norms in
the society where someone’s success is everyone success, the social
media have redefined the world we are in now. It is now more
individualistic. Whatever happens to others is not anyone’s business.
The society is so detached from the individual.”
Olurode also pointed out that unemployment and economic meltdown, in which businesses were crashing, could also trigger suicide.
The Executive Director,
Markaz Islamic and Arabic Institute, Lagos, Sheik Habebullahi Al-Ilory,
said Islam did not encourage or permit anyone to terminate his life or
that of another person for any cause.
Quoting from the Holy
Qu’ran 6:32, he said anyone who terminated his/her life, either by
hanging or poisoning, would appear before Allah on the day of judgment
with the rope or the poison with which he/she committed suicide.
Afterwards, he said, the person would be sent to hell.
He said, “Whoever kills
himself or terminates his own soul is likened to killing a whole nation
or mankind. Suicide is totally forbidden in Islam.”
A pastor and the general
overseer of City of God Faith Ministry, Lagos, Pastor Segun Obayelu,
notes that when a person is downcast, most times, such one tends to lose
hope and dreams.
He says, “At that point,
such a person starts to wander and lose hope in God, and when hope and
dreams are lost, disruptive impulses then set in.
“And when these
disruptive impulses start growing and there is no solution, such a
person might begin to consider suicide. That was what happened to Judas,
after he betrayed Jesus Christ. He thought about it and concluded that
there was nothing else to live for.”
He explains that if
anyone takes his own life such a person cannot make Heaven. According to
him, “It is God that created life, and no one has the right to assume
the position of God to take either his own life or that of another
person.”
The Nigeria Police Force classifies suicide under ‘Offences Against Persons’ in sections 326 and 327 of the Criminal Code.
The police public
relations officer, Lagos State Command, Mrs. Ngozi Braide, said suicide
statistics were compiled annually by the command, and that she could
only provide the one for this year, which would have to wait until the
year ends in December.
She said, “We don’t release suicide statistics reported in the state on a monthly basis; it is released on an annual basis.”
When our correspondent
requested the one for last year, she said she could not defend its
issuance because she had yet to resume as the PPRO then.
She stated, “I cannot
give you the one of last year, because I did not prepare it. I can only
give you the one for this year in December.”
The Deputy Police Public
Relations Officer, Force Headquarters, Abuja, Mr. Frank Mba, also said
it would be difficult to provide the exact figure of suicide cases in
Nigeria because not all cases were reported formally.
And while it was
difficult to get the statistics of suicide rate in the country, Mba said
the 2007 and 2008 figures covered all the states of the federation,
including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, the special police units
at the railway stations, sea and airports.
Mba said Nigeria
recorded more cases of suicide in 2007 than in 2008. While there were
154 reported cases in 2007, the figure dropped to 141 in 2008. Lagos
State recorded the highest figure of 42 cases or almost 30 per cent of
all cases in 2008 alone, followed by Oyo, 13; Anambra, 12; and Bauchi,
12.
In 2007, Bauchi led with 25 cases, followed by Edo, Kano and Anambra with 12 cases each.
Mba also disclosed that
some states such as Lagos, Abia, Oyo and Rivers recorded increases in
suicide cases between 2007 and 2008. In Lagos, the figure rose from a
mere three in 2007 to 42 in 2008, representing about 1,300 per cent
increase.
Mba said one of the
reasons the actual figures for suicide were lacking was because of the
African tradition which considers suicide abominable and, as such,
hardly features in normal, regular conversation.
Section 326 of the
Criminal Code condemns “Aiding Suicide” and stipulates that, “Any person
who procures another to kill himself or counsels another to kill
himself and thereby induces him to do so or aids another in killing
himself is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for life.”
And Section 327of the
same Code tackles attempted suicide and provides as follows: “Any person
who attempts to kill himself is guilty of a misdemeanour and is liable
to imprisonment for one year.”
Heads of Disaster Management Unit of the
Departments of Disaster Management and Intelligence, Nigeria Security
and Civil Defence Corps, Osun State, Mr. Olaniyi Babalola and Alhaji
Hammed Bodunrin, respectively, provided the statistics of suicides in
Osun State.
-Punch
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