By Habeeb Ibrahim
A 19-year-old girl, Opesusi Faith Timilehin, tragically ended her life in Ikorodu, Lagos State, after receiving a disappointing score of 190 in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). The incident took place on Monday in Odogunyan, Ikorodu, where Faith had been residing with her elder sister.
Originally from Abeokuta, Faith was known by family and neighbors as a calm and respectful young woman with big dreams for her future. She had planned to study Microbiology and had high hopes for her UTME results. However, when she saw her score of 190, which she felt was a setback compared to her performance the previous year, she became deeply distressed.
A close friend of Faith revealed that she had compared her current results to those of the previous year, feeling they fell short of expectations. This emotional turmoil led Faith to take a drastic step. She consumed a local rodent poison known as “Push Out” before heading to her sister’s office to ask for palm oil to alleviate her pain. Her sister, unaware of the severity of the situation, initially dismissed the request. It wasn’t until Faith’s condition worsened that an alarm was raised, and neighbors rushed to help.
On the way to the hospital, Faith reportedly admitted to ingesting the poison. Despite urgent efforts to save her, she was pronounced dead at Kolak Hospital in Odogunyan. In a tragic twist, just moments after her death, a provisional admission message from the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) arrived in her email inbox.
The family was left in shock, with a source revealing that the admission message reached her just 30 minutes after her death. Grieving, her parents traveled from Abeokuta to collect her body and make burial arrangements. The loss of this promising young life has left the community heartbroken.
