OAU student commits suicide over academic performance

Kolapo Olowoporoku, a student of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-ife, has committed suicide after repeatedly failing some courses. Olowoporoku was an ‘extra year’ Computer Science student who ought to have graduated two sessions ago but was delayed as a result of two outstanding courses.

It was gathered that the deceased, who served as the general secretary of his departmental association in 2016, swallowed a poisonous substance, which led to his death on Sunday. In 2017, a female student of the institution, Mercy Folaranmi, also took her life owing to poor performance in one of her courses.

Olowoporoku’s class representative, Ayo Oyewole, noted that his death came as a shock, adding that the department was yet to get full details of the incident.

Asked if the deceased ever confided in him about his frustrations, a close friend who preferred anonymity, said: “He never showed it, but I could remember in Part Four, he told me that there’s pressure from home and that his parents don’t know what he is facing in school.