A lecturer at Ebonyi State University, Abakiliki, Professor Amechi Enyi, has denied the allegation of having a hand in the death of a final-year student of the institution identified as Favour Ugwuka.
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.
According to Punch, the mother of the deceased blamed the lecturer for making her daughter commit suicide.
Reacting to the claims, Enyi, a lecturer in the Department of English Language, during an interview with journalists in Abakaliki on Friday, revealed 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.
He added that the deceased’s relatives severally threatened him before the incident.
Enyi said, “I’m Prof. A U. Enyi of the Department of English and Literary Studies, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki. It is unfortunate, quite unfortunate, that the girl ended the way she did. I was shocked when I heard the news.
“It is not true that her death is related to an academic issue, I don’t see how somebody who was not victimized, someone who failed an exam would decide to take her own life. So, the first question one should ask in this circumstance should be, was she victimized?
“And of course, you know that she may not have been the only person who wrote the exam and some [other] people may have failed also, so it is not true and, really that was my first reaction. How could she have decided to take her own life, that is if she took her life?
“How could she have decided to take her own life when she was not victimised in the exam?
“Yes, I got to know about this student in February 2024 after we had uploaded our second-semester results. The results were already approved by the school because before we uploaded results so that students could have access to the results, the school management would have approved the results.
“So the mother called me one night, she said that I was witch-hunting her daughter, that how could her daughter have passed all other courses only to fail my course?
“And when I tried to explain to her the procedure of ascertaining such an accusation, she refused to listen, then I had no choice but to disconnect the call.
“And I didn’t dwell further on it because the university has a process for handling such matters. According to the university rules, the examination does not belong to the lecturer, we had submitted the results, the student scripts, the questions, and the marking scheme, so all these are the property of the university and they are all verifiable.
“So, if anyone feels aggrieved, the process of recalling the papers is there. And what such an aggrieved person needs to do is not threaten my life, telling me that she is from Nsukka and that I will be dealt with.”
