A 19-year-old girl, Faith Opesusi Timileyin, has died by suicide after scoring 146 in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), her father confirmed on Thursday.
Faith, who had aspirations of studying Microbiology at the university level, reportedly ingested rat poison after discovering her score. Her father, Mr. Opesusi Oluwafemi, told BBC Pidgin that his daughter was devastated by the result, especially after performing well in the previous year’s examination.
“My daughter scored very high in last year’s JAMB result. This year, they gave her 146 and that was what made her drink rat poison,” he said.
He added that the family was unaware of her emotional state. “She was devastated and disappointed when she saw her results. If she had opened up, we would have consoled her and told her there is hope,” he said.
The incident has sparked renewed concerns over the psychological impact of academic pressure on students.
