Tension as Nursing student attempt suicide after suspension

Tension has gripped the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Aro, in Abeokuta, Ogun State, following an incident involving a post-basic nursing student who allegedly attempted suicide after being suspended by the institution’s medical director and provost, Dr. Paul Agboola, amid claims of verbal threats and institutional intimidation.

The student, identified as Seyi Ogunjobi, was said to be preparing for his final hospital examinations at the School of Mental Health Nursing/Post-Basic Psychiatry when he was suddenly suspended under controversial circumstances.

Multiple sources within the hospital said that Ogunjobi had faced what they described as sustained verbal intimidation, humiliation, and a hostile learning environment in the weeks leading up to the suspension.

ADVERTISEMENT

According to eyewitness accounts, the student reportedly wrote a suicide note and left his residence in distress.

It was gathered that it took the swift intervention of concerned stakeholders and colleagues to locate and rescue him before he could carry out the act.

One of the nursing students who did not mention her name to avoid victimisation said, “He had been emotionally broken since last week. He faced repeated threats and humiliation. The suspension was the last straw.”

It was recalled that the medical director and provost of Neuro Psychiatric Hospital, Abeokuta, on Saturday, debunked reports of injustice over an alleged case of physical and verbal assault levelled against the Head of Clinical Services of the hospital, Dr Olayinka Majekodunmi, by a Post Basic Psychiatric Nursing student, Ogunjobi.

Agboola stated that Majekodunmi had, however, been handed a strongly worded warning letter for admitting to having used foul language such as “You’re stupid, you’re a bastard” on Ogunjobi during the altercation, which reportedly occurred on June 30, 2025.

He stated that the panel that sat over the case, which he chaired, also found the student nurse very inconsistent and evasive, as he could not prove the allegation that the senior consultant hit him with a chair and also pushed him and was therefore suspended as a corrective measure.

The suspension, however, caused outrage across the nursing community, with the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, Aro chapter, and Elegant Nurses Forum rising in condemnation of the hospital management’s handling of the matter.

The Elegant Nurses Forum, in a press statement signed by its convener, Olamide Abiodun, lamented what it described as a reign of tyranny at the facility, accusing the medical director of orchestrating a culture of fear, psychological repression, and administrative abuse that is endangering both student nurses and healthcare workers within the institution.

According to the group, the nursing student had earlier been forcibly removed from the ward by security operatives on the directive of the MD, only a few days before he was due to sit for crucial final examinations.

The forum alleged that the provost’s action amounted to deliberate cruelty and questioned the moral and professional compass of a psychiatric institution meant to uphold therapeutic standards and mental health support.

The group said, “A disturbing incident occurred recently when a student Nurse from the School of Mental Health Nursing/Post-basic Psychiatry attempted suicide following days of verbal threats and humiliation by the MD after being suspended from the school by the same MD.

“This student was forcibly removed from the ward by security guards on the MD’s orders, mere days before their hospital final exams—a decision that is both cruel and unacceptable, especially in a healthcare setting.”

The nursing group further called for urgent international sanctions, appealing to the International Council of Nurses and foreign governments to impose travel blacklists and visa bans on the embattled medical director, whom they accused of consistently abusing his office and undermining the rights of nurses and students alike.

Also, the NANNM chapter of the hospital, in a strongly worded statement exclusively obtained debunked the press conference earlier held by the provost, which claimed that no assault occurred during the incident that led to the student’s suspension.

The union in the statement signed by its chairman, Comrade Oluwalegan Narcissus, alleged that not only did the medical director chair an investigative panel, but he also prevented meaningful deliberation by other members.

The nurses further alleged that the provost issued the suspension letter unilaterally, without waiting for the panel to conclude its inquiry or submit a formal report.

NANNM stated that despite confessional evidence by the alleged perpetrator of the assault, Dr. Olayinka Majekodunmi, and corroborating testimonies, the institution chose to suspend the student while merely issuing a “strongly worded warning” to the doctor.

Describing the handling of the matter as a travesty of justice, the union questioned the rationale behind suspending the victim of the incident while the “aggressor was let off with a slap on the wrist”.

It stated, “It is mind-boggling that, acting further in his partisanship, the said provost immediately rushed to issue a press statement to the general public, contradicting the findings of the panel by stating that no assault occurred, even in the face of credible and corroborated evidence and testimonies.

“The provost in one breath stated that Dr. Majekodunmi had been issued a strongly worded warning letter for admitting to have used foul language such as ‘you are stupid, you are a bastard’, yet in another breath stated that Ogunjobi’s inability to substantiate the serious claims led to his suspension. Any rational-thinking person will see through this web of concocted lies and half-truths.”

The union further alleged that this was not the first time the provost had shown hostility towards staff and student nurses.

They cited previous incidents, including a congress communiqué that attracted punitive panels allegedly targeted at union officials who had raised concerns about poor working conditions.

While reiterating that NANNM supports fair and transparent disciplinary measures when appropriately applied, the union condemned what it called “administrative recklessness, bias, and vindictive management style that has caused grave psychological trauma to the student and cast a shadow over the reputation of the institution”.

The statement read in part, “As a responsible professional association and trade union, we owe our members and the public a duty to speak up and defend the innocent. We cannot remain silent in the face of clear abuse of authority, oppression, injustice, administrative overreach, and apparent bias done with impunity.”

The union called for the immediate reversal of the suspension and demanded that the hospital management revisit the issue with fairness and urgency.

It also urged regulatory bodies, stakeholders, and the public to hold the institution accountable and ensure that nursing students and staff are protected from further harm.

“We realise that the allowance of injustice in any corner is a threat to justice the world over, and an injury to one is an injury to all,” the union noted.