The father of 19-year-old Faith Opesusi Timileyin, who committed suicide after receiving her Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) results, has revealed that his daughter consumed rat poison upon discovering her score.

Mr. Opesusi Oluwafemi told BBC Pidgin on Thursday that his daughter was devastated after learning she scored only 146 marks in the examination. Faith, who had aspirations to study Microbiology at university, had reportedly performed much better in last year's examination.

"My daughter scored very high in last year's JAMB result. This year, they gave her 146 and that was what made her drink rat poison," Mr. Opesusi explained. "She was devastated and disappointed when she saw her results."

The grieving father lamented that his daughter did not communicate her distress to family members. "If she had opened up, we would have consoled and told her that there is hope," he said.

This tragic incident comes as the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, admitted on Wednesday that there were significant errors in the recently concluded 2025 UTME. During an emotional press conference where he broke down in tears, Oloyede apologized to affected candidates, revealing that the technical glitches impacted approximately 379,997 students.

The admission of errors by JAMB has sparked reactions across Nigeria, with various stakeholders including the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) threatening legal action against the examination body. Some institutions have publicly backed the JAMB registrar amid calls for his resignation, while others have demanded reforms to the examination process.

Mental health experts continue to emphasize the importance of supporting young people facing academic disappointments and creating awareness about suicide prevention resources available to students experiencing distress over examination results.