A man in his early 30s, simply identified as Utibe Eteffia, has committed suicide through lethal poison after falling victim to cyber criminals popular known as Yahoo Boys, who cleared out his account to the tune of N2.5 million.
According to Leadership, the deceased who ran a POS business had been sharing hints of attempting suicide.
Ettefia was said to have posted an obituary on social media with the picture of a lit candle and asked “Do you believe in reincarnation?”
He also asked his followers to be their brothers’ keepers by showing love and helping those in need.
According to neighbours, the deceased had become reclusive a few days to his death and had begun a countdown on social media.
“Sometimes, he would remain in his house crying. Some nights he would make calls to people till even 4:00 am. About one week to committing suicide, he came to my house, asking me if I had rat poison. When I probed further, he explained that he wanted to use it to clear some rodents in his house.
“I was also told he went to a chemist shop in the neighbourhood to check the poisonous substance and succeeded in buying one before travelling to his village to take his life,” the neighbours said.
The deceased, from Ini local government area of Akwa-Ibom State, having lost both parents at a very young age, was raised by his aunt, who saw him through secondary school. He later got financial assistance from family and friends to run the PoS business.
Struggling to find his right footing, he was said to have deployed his iPhone to run a cyber deal with criminals on social media, who introduced him to the cult cartel running Yahoo- Plus business and ended up being duped after being initiated.
It was gathered that his indoctrination into the cult disorganised his psyche and thought pattern, causing him to begin looking beyond the present world to the imaginary abode.
According to a family source, when he got home after travelling a distance of about 45 minutes from Uyo to Ini LGA, he asked his late father’s brother and others whether they would not go to Church, to which they replied that not much was happening in Church that day, that they would rather pray in the house.
At that point, he was said to have asked the uncle to lend him money, but the uncle said he could only spare N10,000.
In the evening, he reportedly went to Church and returned in the late evening hours.
He waited for everyone to retire before hitting his system with the lethal substance.
His remains were discovered lifeless on the veranda to the utter shock and surprise of the family, who sent a delegation to search his house for any evidence connected to his death, to no avail.
“We will not bury him now until we know why he took the difficult decision to end his life,” a family source disclosed.
