Ebonyi University Management Breaks Silence On Final Year Student Who Committed Suicide

The management of Ebonyi State University, Abakiliki, has broken its silence on the death of a final-year student of the institution, Favour Ugwuka.

Naijaonpoint reported that Favour, a student of the Department of English, committed suicide in her hostel at the Ishieke Campus of the university in Abakaliki, the state capital.

Favour reportedly passed all her courses but repeatedly failed a particular course, whose lecturer had vowed she would never pass.

The mother of the deceased blamed the lecturer for making her daughter commit suicide.

Reacting, the accused lecturer in the Department of English Language, Professor Amechi Enyi, during an interview with journalists in Abakaliki last Friday, revealed that the late student merely copied down three examination questions.

The lecturer stated that it was incorrect to claim that her death was related to academic activities.

Addressing journalists on Monday at the institution’s conference room, the Vice Chancellor, Professor Chigozie Ogbu, dismissed the deceased’s claims that the accused lecturer was behind her failure.

Ogbu stated that the certified true copy of Ugwuka Favour Chinonye’s results, with the registration number EBSU/2018/89726 for the Department of English Language and Literature, was registered in 2018/2019, which is her first year.

According to him, Favour offered 9 courses in her first year, out of which she failed 3 and had a CGP of 1.78. In the second semester of her first year, she took 8 courses, out of which she failed 2 and had a CGP of 1.75, thereby having a sessional CGP of 1.76.

The Vice Chancellor further revealed Ugwuka’s academic performance in subsequent years, concluding that she had outstanding courses, including ENG 416, which she failed twice.

He said, “When a student is confident that a lecturer has deliberately marked them down, and they are sure that they passed the exam, what the student does is to complain to the HOD or Dean and request re-marking, which will be sent to the Vice Chancellor’s office.

“It is usually sent to another university to re-mark and let us know. Some of them, on very rare occasions, have returned positive, and whatever the student gets here is usually what they get from the other university after re-marking, and that is the process.

“If at the last exam, the late student felt that she was marked down by the lecturer, she would have complained to the Dean and asked for re-marking, and the paper would have been sent to another place for re-marking.

‘But from what is seen, it’s not that the student deserves to pass, and she didn’t pass. And from the record, you will find out that this is not the only course that she didn’t pass.

 “In 2019/2020, which is her 2nd year, she registered a total of 10 courses. Out of the courses, she was absent in 2 courses: Intermediate English Composition (ENG 215) and Philosophy and Logic (GST 102). She was absent in the 2 courses out of the 8 she wrote, she failed 2. She had a GP of 1.41 in that 1st semester. In her 2nd semester, she registered 10 courses. Out of the 10 courses, she failed 4 and had a CGP of 1.82. Total CGP in her 2nd year is 1.62.”