‘See you in heaven’, Babcock student wrote before committing suicide

Verishima Unokyur, a Babcock University undergraduate, Ogun state, committed suicide in his parent’s home in Oshodi, Lagos state, after sending a cryptic message to his best friend.

Verishima, a 19-year-old Social Work student, reportedly hung himself with a tie on Tuesday.

Punch reports that the message read: “See you in heaven”.

Asor, his younger brother, said Verishima was quiet but never gave any indication that he may commit suicide.

He said, “I was sleeping when my phone rang and when I checked, I saw that it was my mum calling. She said I should come and open the door for her. As I was coming down, I saw my brother dangling like a pendulum from where he hanged himself. That was around 7am.

“He didn’t complain about anything. But I remember that before I went to sleep, he was quiet. I asked what was wrong with him, but he said nothing. My mum had just the two of us; he was my elder brother.”

A close family friend was quoted to have said the victim had informed his mother that he would soon die.

“The two children lost their father about 15 years ago. It was their mother that had been responsible for their upkeep and she made them comfortable. She is a top employee of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria.

“He had been telling the mother that he had the feeling that he would die soon.

“The mother attends one of the Pentecostal churches and so when the boy said he would die, she took him to the church and they prayed for him.

“A night to the day of this incident, the boy picked his phone and sent a text message to his best friend, wishing him a happy new year. At the end of that message, he wrote, ‘see you in heaven’. It was the following morning that his remains were found dangling from his tie.”