A 17-year-old secondary school pupil has reportedly committed suicide by swallowing an insecticide.
According to reports, the incident occurred at Apamini Annex Road, Rumuokoro community, in the Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The deceased, identified simply as Abibatu, was said to have been impregnated by a yet-to-be-identified person.
Abibatu, who was angrily chastised by her parents on Friday, was said to have purchased the insecticide from one of the shop owners in the neighbourhood, who was not aware of her plan to kill herself.
A source from the area said Abibatu’s corpse was found on Saturday with her mouth reeking of the insecticide she had allegedly gulped.
“On Saturday morning, we heard that the girl was dead. We later learnt that she took mosquito killer. We also heard that her parents were angry with her because she got pregnant. She might have committed suicide because of the shame.
“We know her as a very calm person and we never knew she was capable of such act; we never knew she could take her own life in such a manner,” the source said.
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Nnamdi Omoni, said,
“I heard that the parents chased the girl out of the house on noticing that she was pregnant. But the girl went to commit suicide.
“The parents appear to be afraid to go to the police. For now, nobody has come to report that matter. The command is not aware because there is no complaint before it.”
