Mother Of Five Commits Suicide Over Hardship In Ebonyi

A mother of five in Ebonyi State has reportedly killed herself over the difficulty in meeting her children’s need.

It was reported that the resident of Okposi in Umuoghara community of Ezza North Local Government Area of the state, Ifeoma Otubo took her own life after lamenting over the inability to cater for herself and her children.

Naija News learnt that the 45-year-old woman hung herself on a mango tree at the back of her house on Sunday, December 20, 2020.

Confirming the incident to newsmen, a brother to the diseased, Christopher Oyibo, noted that Otubo had attempted suicide in 2014 over hardship, but was rescued by residents in the community who spotted her.

Naija News understands that Otubo’s first child, who is reportedly 25 years old, is jobless at the moment.

Giving more details on the happening, a community source revealed that the deceased and her family were internally displaced persons as a result of the protracted Ezza/Eziulo communal war in the Ishielu Local Government Area of the state.

“She was among the people displaced as a result of the Ezza/Eziulo communal war. She returned to her father’s house together with the husband and children, but since that time, life has not been easy on them,” the source stated.

He added. “About five years ago, she attempted suicide but was stopped by people who saw her.

“But this time, her husband said he entered his room because they were given two rooms by the wife’s family; so, he entered his room, while the deceased entered her room with the children.

“So, very early in the morning, when the children woke up to ease themselves, they saw their mother hanging on the mango tree behind their house. It was said that the diseased, during her first suicide attempt, gave hardship as the reason because before the war, they were living well and had she had a shop she was managing, but when they relocated to her fathers’ house at Umuoghara, they became small farmers and life became hard.”

Confirming the report also, the Ebonyi State Police Command through its spokesperson, Mrs Loveth Odah, described the incident as unfortunate, conveyed the Commissioner of Police’s heartfelt condolence to people of the area.

Odah admonished the IDPs not to lose hope as the government is making efforts to resettle and give them a better living standard. She, however, pointed out that the Ezza/Eziulo crisis had defied solution.

In another news, President Muhammadu Buhari government has revealed its plan to restrain Fulani herdsmen from further grazing in the South-West region of Nigeria, Naija News reports.