Skip to main content

Coincidence: 13-yr-old girls commit suicide in Delta, Cross River, using similar method

Two thirteen year old secondary school girls have committed suicide in Delta and Cross River States, respectively, using similar methods, but for varying reasons.

According to a Punch report Monday, a 13-year-old Junior Secondary School 2 student in Yala Local Government Area of Cross River State, Josephine Wonah, allegedly committed suicide following a fallout with her mother.

A blogger based in the area, Matthew Okache, stated that, following a misunderstanding with her mother, Wonah drank herbicide and died in a hospital.

Okache stated, “Josephine had a misunderstanding with her mother and the mother scolded her and she became offended, went inside the house and drank the herbicide used by her mother to kill grass in the farm.

“After drinking the herbicide, she went to her bed and lay down with nobody knowing until she started passing faeces and vomiting; that was when people realised what had happened. She was rushed to the Santa Maria Clinic along Imaje Road, Okuku, but died shortly afterwards.”

He said the girl was a student of a private secondary school in Okuku, adding that “her corpse was buried immediately as such an incident is a taboo in the area.”

The Cross River Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Irene Ugbo, said she had yet to receive the report on the incident.

Similarly, The Nation reported Monday that a 13 year-old girl reportedly committed suicide in Warri, Delta State, over beatings she received from her elder sister for engaging in sexual affairs.

It was gathered the incident occurred on Saturday, behind a Total Filling Station near Warri Main Garage in the oil- city.

Residents of the area, while expressing anger over the development, said she was a familiar face in the area.
 
According to them, the late teen lived with an elder sister, who is also unidentified and had beaten her for having a boyfriend.

Annoyed by the sister’s action, the deceased took an insecticide and ended up dead behind the fuel station.

A source said: “It’s a shame. The girl was seen by her elder sister with a man and she beat her for having a male lover at her age. She went inside and killed herself by drinking Angle 90 (insecticide).

“She’s too small to have a man lover. Don’t look at her body, she is a small girl. They should throwaway her body, no need to bury her. Residents of the area are angry because we all know her as a little girl. We don’t know her name, but we used to see her around.”

The Delta State Police Command could not confirm the incident when contacted on Monday.

However, its Public Relations Officer, DSP Onome Onovwakpoyeya said: “The one that happened was that of two weeks ago. This one is a different one. May be the matter was not reported to the police”.

Nevertheless, in an interview with Paulokahblog, a clinical psychologist, Mr Ajeigbe Ayo, who works with Minds Haven in Abuja, said that reported suicide cases always cause a chain reaction and that anger is counterproductive, imploring anyone with extreme anger to seek help from professionals.

He said: "Generally, anger is a feeling or emotion (like fear, happiness or sadness) that is universally experienced by people of all ages, races and cultural backgrounds. Anger indicates a person’s response to provocations, harm, danger, frustration, threat or perception of unwanted or unexpected behaviour of an individual or group.

"Anger becomes a problem when it is felt too strongly (intensely), too frequently (all the time), or is expressed disproportionately or inappropriately. 
It also indicates a possible underlying mental health problems. It also reflects the possible personality disorder the individual may be living with.

"Some people express their anger in a nonviolent way, but, in others, cognitive control mechanisms required to guide one's behavior are either nonexistent or ignored, and this comes with disastrous consequences such as killing others or committing suicide.

"The appropriate thing to do is to speak with a licensed clinical psychologist on how to better understand one's self and learn healthy ways to express emotions. Anger is not healthy to be repressed. It is not something to be ignored. It is controllable and manageable if expressed in a healthy way."

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Iheukwumere builds house for homeless man in Afikpo

The three-bedroom flat Iheukwumere built for Jaguar A House of Assembly aspirant in Afikpo, Ebonyi state, Mr Iheukwumere Okogwu Otu, has handed over a three-bedroom flat he built for a homeless man in Ezi Agbii, Ukpa, in Afikpo North local government area of Ebonyi state. Iheukwumere, who is the Special Adviser (SA) to Hon. Maria Ude Nwachi, member representing Afikpo North East Constituency in the Ebonyi State House of Assembly (EBHA), made the donation Tuesday during his birthday celebration. In an exclusive chat with Paul Okah Blog , Iheukwumere said that the kind gesture was borne out of the fact that the milk of kindness flowing in his veins could not allow him to bear the sight of the beneficiary, Mr Chukwu Oko (a.k.a Jaguar) being homeless. Iheukwumere said that, despite having limited resources, he dedicated his salary as SA to start the project in 2014, due to the fact that the beneficiary had been sleeping outside with his six children since 2007. He sa...

Don't quit by Edgar Albert Guest

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will, when the road you're trudging seems all uphill, when the funds are low and the debts are high, and you want to smile but you have to sigh, when care is pressing you down a bit - rest if you must, but don't you quit. Life is queer with its twists and turns. As everyone of us sometimes learns. And many a fellow turns about when he might have won had he stuck it out. Don't give up though the pace seems slow - you may succeed with another blow. Often the goal is nearer than it seems to a faint and faltering man; Often the struggler has given up when he might have captured the victor's cup; and he learned too late when the night came down, how close he was to the golden crown. Success is failure turned inside out - the silver tint of the clouds of doubt, and when you never can tell how close you are, it may be near when it seems afar; so stick to the fight when you're hardest hit - it's when things seem...

Stop inflicting economic hardship on Ebonyians with tax demands, ex-SSG implores Umahi

Former Secretary to the State Government of Ebonyi State, Professor Benard Odoh, has implored the Ebonyi State Governor, Engr. David Nweze Umahi, to desist from inflicting economic hardship on Ebonyians. In an open letter he made available to Paulokahblog Friday morning, Odoh said that, "as a way of cushioning the devastating effects of the covid-19 pandemic on Ebonyi’s struggling economy, there is urgent need to jettison the collection of tenement rates/ground rents from landlords, excessive/forceful drive for quarry haulage levies and waiving of personal income taxes".  Odoh regretted that, despite the efforts of the state government in policing its borders against the COVID-19 pandemic, Ebonyi State, as of May 21, has recorded 13 cases and expressed hope that the situation would not get worse in the state in particular and Nigeria in general, even as he pledged support for the state government in ensuring that the active cases are managed successfully "to t...