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When You’re Pushed To The Edge

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In the past months, disturbing news of Nigerians committing suicide have filled the news raising up debates among several circles as to what pushes people to the act. From teenagers to the elderly, educated and non-educated, Christians to Muslims, north to south, people have ended their lives for several reasons and the situation is getting quite alarming.

Through several means – the most common being death by hanging, people have ended their lives leaving their relatives and friends stunned, sad and at a loss.

Only yesterday, in Awka, Anambra state, a 20 year-old commercial motorcycle rider ended his life after losing his motorcycle to armed robbers.

Onuigbo Nwode, a commercial motorcycle rider, hung himself in the early hours of Sunday after losing his motorcycle to armed robbers in Awka, Anambra State.

The 20-year-old indigene of Ebonyi State moved to Awka three years ago and had been taking care of his family at home with the proceeds from bike riding.

According to a report, the motorcycle was snatched at gunpoint around 1:00a.m. along Zik Avenue and hours later, Nwode committed suicide at his residence in Ichida Road, Umudioka, Awka.

His corpse was removed by the police and deposited in a mortuary.

A relation to the deceased, who is also a bike rider, said that after the robbery the deceased came home feeling depressed but they never suspected he was contemplating suicide.

“There were three of us from Ebonyi living in that room and when we saw how he was feeling, we started consoling him and at a time, all of us fell asleep. We never knew he planned to hang himself,” he said.

“When I eventually woke up to go and ease myself, I discovered that Nwode was no longer in the room. It was later that I saw something dangling and when I called the attention of our other brother, we flashed a torchlight on the object and discovered that it was the body of Nwode. We then raised an alarm and neighbours started trooping into our house.”

The state police spokesperson, Emeka Chukwuemeka, confirmed the incident and said investigation was ongoing.

It is no news that a large population of Nigerians grapple with extreme levels of poverty daily. Evidently, the motorcycle was the only source of livelihood for him and his family and he might have felt so bad after losing it and thought it was better to die than…..

But I might be wrong. On the other hand, people commit suicide for several reasons that might seem quite unrelated and ‘unworthy’ of the act.

Many would also link suicide to spiritual influences: ‘A voice in the head’, ‘Evil forces’, ‘Witchcraft’ and so on.

Some would say people commit suicide when they are faced with depression, shame, guilt, extreme suffering or poverty, repeated failure, peer pressure, death of a loved one, loss of money or bankruptcy, loss of an important position etc.

While sometimes, people who seem happy and at peace with the world just end it – and many would say ‘just like that!’

But does it ever happen ‘just like that’? Aren’t the signs usually there: depression, thinking, ill-health, mental depression and more.

May the soul of this young man Rest In Peace.

So, in your own view, what causes people to commit suicide? What would make one take his own life? Are there any signs that lead to such actions? How can people be counseled and helped through difficult times in order to prevent such acts?

On the other hand, have you ever contemplated suicide or do you know anyone who has? What were the reasons for this?

Please share your thoughts.

News Source: Daily Times

Adeola Adeyemo is a graduate of Industrial Relations and Personnel Management from University of Lagos. However, her passion is writing and she worked as a reporter with NEXT Newspaper. She believes that anything can be written about; anything can be a story depending on the angle it is seen from and the writer's imagination. When she is not writing news or feature articles, she slips into her fantasies and creates interesting fiction pieces. She blogs at www.deolascope.blogspot.com

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