A Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) member of staff of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) in Benin, Edo State, Prince Carter Oshodin has committed suicide over unpaid salaries and inability to pay his two young daughters’ school fees.
Oshodin, a data entry officer at the Federal Government-owned higher institution, took his life on Friday at Umelu in Upper Sokponba area of Benin, the state capital.
It was learnt Oshodin sought financial assistance from many persons but got none before opting for suicide.
Despite recent suspension of the nationwide strike by NASU, members of the union are yet to be paid their outstanding salaries.
Oshodin, who described himself as Craze J.A., on his Facebook’s profile page, stated: “Leave a good legacy behind, before you depart.”
The deceased, in a Facebook post in 2017, said: “Another thing you have to know, while working for the government, because the salary is peanut, you do not lose hope.
“I know a woman that started work with N125 monthly in 1986, now she is earning over N300,000. That is why you have to be with what you are doing, because little drop of water makes a mighty ocean.”
Edo Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Chidi Nwabuzor, a Superintendent of Police (SP), confirmed the incident.
Nwabuzor noted that the matter was not reported to the police but the area’s proactive Divisional Police Officer (DPO) went to Umelu for on-the-spot assessment, with the community’s head to confirm the incident.
The PPRO disclosed that Oshodin’s body had been taken away by members of his family, while urgjng Edo residents to always keep hope alive. Continue Reading
