Tragedy struck on Monday as 19-year-old Opesusi Faith Timilehin reportedly took her own life after scoring 190 in the recently released Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).

Timilehin, originally from Abeokuta, Ogun State, was living with her elder sister in Odogunyan, Ikorodu, Lagos State.

According to neighbours and residents, the young lady was described as “gentle and humble.” Many expressed shock and sorrow at the news of her death.

A family source revealed that Timilehin had applied to study Microbiology and had also sat for the UTME in 2024. “She said last year’s score was better than this year’s,” a close family friend (name withheld) told The Guardian.

Trouble started when Timilehin, after ingesting ‘Push Out’—a rodenticide—walked into her sister’s office and requested palm oil, apparently to counteract the poison’s effect. Her sister, unaware of the situation, initially dismissed the request. However, after Timilehin began showing signs of distress, alarm was raised, drawing the attention of neighbours and passersby.

On the way to the hospital, Timilehin reportedly confessed to taking poison at home before heading to her sister’s office. She was rushed to Kolak Hospital in Odogunyan, where she was pronounced dead.

In a cruel twist of fate, it was gathered that just about 30 minutes after her passing, she received a Gmail notification from JAMB indicating that she had been offered provisional admission.

“The shocking part is that the admission email came in barely half an hour after she was confirmed dead,” a source close to the family said.

Upon receiving the devastating news, her grieving parents reportedly traveled from Abeokuta to Ikorodu to retrieve her remains for burial. Meanwhile, the tragic incident has sparked outrage among residents, some of whom blamed JAMB for the pressure students face and were seen expressing anger toward the examination body.