By Daniel Edu
In a heart-wrenching incident, a 20-year-old student from the University of Ilorin, Sanni Hameedat, took her own life after being ensnared in a distressing online lending scam. Hameedat, who was in the midst of her SIWES program, encountered a young man on Snapchat who would ultimately lead her down a tragic path.
According to a statement released by the management of the private hostel where she lived, the cause of her untimely death can be traced back to the pressure exerted by the individuals operating through the Snapchat platform. These app agents were relentlessly demanding the swift repayment of a substantial loan that she had extended to the young man. Additionally, Hameedat’s financial struggles, compounded by her brother’s inability to provide assistance, plunged her into a state of depression.
The management disclosed that the root of this tragedy was a significant financial transaction. Hameedat had been entrusted with a substantial sum of money by her mother, a fund she held for safekeeping. During her interactions with the young man on Snapchat, he claimed that his mother was battling breast cancer and urgently required N500,000 for treatment. Fueled by compassion and emotion, Hameedat decided to lend him half of the N1 million she held, with the boy promising to repay the borrowed amount. However, when her mother needed the money returned, the young man abruptly severed all contact, blocking her. This left Hameedat deeply troubled, and in her quest to make up the missing N500,000, she resorted to borrowing from various mobile apps.
In her desperate attempt to gather the N500,000, Hameedat managed to accumulate N450,000 from loan apps and added her savings of N50,000 to reach the borrowed amount. Tragically, it was revealed that she had ingested a bottle of pesticide, commonly known as Sniper, the previous night. Her roommate, who had retired to bed early, woke up in the middle of the night to find her in a state of distress, foaming at the mouth and vomiting.
Alarmed by the situation, the roommate sought help, and Hameedat was rushed to the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) before ultimately being declared dead.
Both the Dean of the Student Affairs Unit, Prof M.T. Yakubu, and the Head of Corporate Affairs, Kunle Akogun, were unavailable for comment during the 37th and 38th combined convocation ceremony that began on October 16, 2023. However, the Student Union President, Ologundudu Adesunkanmi, known as Royal Prince, confirmed the incident, echoing the hostel management’s account. He expressed the university’s commitment to conducting a thorough investigation into the matter, describing it as a deeply saddening loss to the university community.
