17-year-old girl pregnant student commits suicide in Rivers

Residents of Apamini Anex Road in Rumuokoro community, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State were shocked when they learnt that Abibatu, a teenage girl living in the neighbourhood had committed suicide.

Abibatu, who was a student of one of the secondary schools in the area, was said to have taken insecticide, which eventually choked her to death.

Sources said that the 17-year-old girl was impregnated by a yet-to-be-identified person, a development that made her parents angry at her.  Abibatu, who was chastised on Friday by her angry parents, was said to have purchased the insecticide from one of the shop owners in the neighbourhood, who were not aware of her plans to commit suicide.

A source from the area disclosed that Abibatu’s corpse was found on Saturday morning with her mouth reeking of the insecticide she had gulped.

“On Saturday morning, we woke to hear that the girl was dead. We later learnt that the girl drank mosquito killer. We also heard that the 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, who does not want his name mentioned said.

However, the parents of the girl could not be reached as neighbours said they (parents) were too traumatised to speak.

When contacted, the State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Nnamdi Omoni, told our correspondent in a telephone interview that though the matter had not been reported to the police, he was aware of the incident.

Omoni said, “I heard that the parents chased the girl out of the house after they noticed she was pregnant. But the girl went and committed suicide.

“But 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 us.”

Punch