The death by suicide of a 19-year-old Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) candidate, Opesusi Faith Timilehin, in Lagos State brings to number three Nigerian students who have been dispatched to their early graves for ‘failing’ UTME in seven years.
This was revealed by Africa Health Report (AHR) investigation.
AHR Fact Check students taking their lives over academic disappointment, pointing out it is a growing crisis across the country.
AHR checks revealed that Timilehin, who lived with her elder sister in the Ikorodu area of Lagos, consumed a poisonous substance known as ‘Push Out’ on Monday, May 12, 2025.
She reportedly took the action after scoring 190 in the just-released Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) results a score she believed was too low to secure her desired admission.
Timilehin, while at her sister’s office, asked for palm oil to ease the pain after ingesting the poison at home. Her sister, unaware of what had happened, initially ignored her request until Timilehin confessed on the way to the hospital. In a heartbreaking twist, she reportedly received an admission notification in her Gmail inbox moments after she was confirmed dead at Kolak Hospital, Odogunyan.
Timilehin’s death mirrors a string of similar tragedies across the country in recent years, underscoring the deadly consequences of academic pressure on young Nigerians.
In March 2018, an 18-year-old girl identified as Loveth from Ughelli, Delta State, ended her life by drinking Sniper insecticide after scoring 160 in her UTME. Loveth, who had aspired to study Medicine, believed her score would deny her admission.
A similar incident occurred on March 18, 2020, when a teenage girl identified as Zainab from the Northern part of the country reportedly committed suicide by drinking Sniper after failing the JAMB examination for the second time. In a suicide note she left she she said she had broke her father’s heart and let her mother down
These incidents highlight a disturbing pattern of student suicides linked to dissatisfaction with JAMB results, with young candidates driven to despair.
Mental health advocates have called for urgent intervention, warning that the persistent pressure on students to achieve certain academic results without adequate emotional support is contributing to these avoidable deaths.
