Ruth Semilore
A 19-year-old Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) candidate, Opesusi Faith Timilehin, died by suicide on Monday after reportedly consuming a rodenticide known as ‘Push Out’ in reaction to her examination result.
Timilehin, who hailed from Abeokuta, Ogun State, was living with her elder sibling in Odogunyan, Ikorodu, Lagos State, at the time of the incident.
She had scored 190 in the just-released 2025 UTME results conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), which she believed was lower than her previous score from last year.
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“She told us her 2024 result was better and was visibly distressed,” a close friend of the deceased told The Guardian. Timilehin had applied to study Microbiology and had been anxious about her chances of gaining admission.
In a cruel twist of fate, it was revealed that JAMB sent her a provisional admission offer via email approximately 30 minutes after she was confirmed dead at Kolak Hospital in Odogunyan.
“The email came in after she passed. It’s heartbreaking,” a family source disclosed.
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Neighbors described Timilehin as quiet, humble, and full of potential. Her death has left the community in mourning, with residents expressing outrage and blaming systemic educational pressures for the tragedy. Many criticized JAMB over the widespread reports of mass failure in the 2025 UTME.
Following the incident, her parents reportedly traveled from Abeokuta to retrieve her remains for burial.
