More facts have emerged on the death of a 300-level student of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Oluwapelumi Olona, who allegedly committed suicide at his off-campus residence in the Aule area of Akure, Ondo State.
The Industrial Design student allegedly hanged himself in his room.
The President of the Students’ Union Government, FUTA, Jesunifemi Asoore, while speaking to one of our correspondents on Sunday, disclosed that Olona left a suicide note.
He said, “He left a suicide note and titled it ‘Death note’. There were some messages in it but we have not been able to interpret it. The note is now with the police.”
PUNCH Metro gathered that the deceased might have taken his life over a fraud allegation levelled against him in his department.
One of his friends, Omoniyi Enoch, who spoke to the Union of Campus Journalists of FUTA, said Olona had a money issue with his department.
Olona was said to be the financial secretary of his department until his death.
Enoch’s interview was found on the Facebook page of the union.
He said, “When school resumed for the 2021/2022 session, the treasurer of the department was not around to receive payment for dues. Joseph (Olona) decided to receive the payments from students.
“The president requested that he should send N100,000 to him for a departmental project. Joseph sent it using his digital bank – Carbon. He was debited but the president did not receive the payment.
“Several mails were sent to the bank but the issue wasn’t resolved. Due to that, he was pressured about it and everyone secluded him. He hadn’t attended lectures since we got back from the Christmas break because of the pressure.”
Enoch said last Friday, the deceased informed him that the head of department called his dad to say he was involved in fraud.
The friend said the development disturbed him.
“He requested to follow me to my office at the Students’ Union Building because he did not want to stay alone. I left him at the office to attend to the homecoming event that 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 7.40pm, I knocked his door but he didn’t open. I left, thinking he was still angry with me for leaving him at the office. At 8.30pm, I knocked again but there was no response. At 10.01pm, I tried again but there was no response and went to sleep.
“This (Saturday) morning, I went to knock around 8am but there was no response. I had to go and check through his window and I saw him hanging from the ceiling,” he added.
The Head of Media and Protocols Unit of the institution, Mr Adegbenro Adebanjo, said his parents had been informed.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs Funmilayo Odunlami, confirmed the incident.
“His body has been taken to a morgue and investigation has started to unravel the reasons behind his action, but it was a case of suicide,” the PPRO stated.
