Legon Girl's Father Weeps

By Bernice Bessey

Family of the University of Ghana (UG) level 400 student, Jennifer Nyarko, who jumped from the fourth floor of the Akuafo Hall Annex 'A' room 407, ending her life prematurely, broke down in tears, Wednesday dawn, when they visited the scene of the incident.

The sudden death of the Agriculture and Consumer Science student has indeed thrown the family into anguish, as their hope and expectation for Jennifer to successfully complete her course of study in May, this year, in order to attend her graduation, hit the rock.

Jennifer's body was found motionless in a pool of blood by a passer-by who raised an alarm to draw the attention of other students to the scene.

Video footage making rounds on social media has the father of the final year student, Mr. William Nyarko, wailing and grieving uncontrollable over the untimely departure of his beloved daughter.

Though the university, family and police sources are yet to establish what might have influenced her fatal decision, unconfirmed reports allude to the fact that Jennifer was probably suffering from depression, which she refused to share with her room mates.

However, information gathered by The Chronicle indicates that the victim's father has confirmed to the Legon Police Station that his daughter had been struggling with a mental disorder since 2012, when she gained admission to the university.

Mr. Nyarko, a retiree, is said to have told the police that his daughter, at a point deferred her course for a year to seek treatment for her health condition.

According to reports by Graphic online, the victim's father further told the police that the deceased had visited them during the weekend and also spent the March 6, 2017 holiday with them at their Adentan residence, in Accra.

Mr. Nyarko stated that Jennifer left for school last Tuesday morning, only for them to receive a call announcing her death Wednesday morning.

One of Jennifer's roommates told the Graphic online that before she (Jennifer) passed on, she was heard speaking on phone throughout the night, with someone suspected to be a man. Interestingly, information retrieved from her phone indicates that the last person she spoke to was a female friend who confirmed to the police that Ms. Nyarko had called her earlier to inform her pastor to pray for her (Jennifer) that night, since she was having a spiritual attack.

Meanwhile, a news release by the University on the incident appealed to the public to refrain from making speculations on the incident and allow the police to complete its investigations.

Stella A. Amoa, Director of Public Affairs -UG said the body of the late level 400 student was found around 4.30am on the ground of the Akuafo Hall, Annex A.

Continuing, she hinted that the Hall authorities alerted the head of security and the Legon police of the incident and they arrived at the scene immediately, adding "the body was conveyed to the university hospital where medical officers pronounced her dead on arrival."

Mrs. Amoa stated that the family of the deceased who were informed of the unfortunate incident arrived at the hospital to identify the body.

The police, she indicated are currently carrying out investigations into the issue, after which the University would be in better position to provide fuller details of the incident.

"The University is distraught by the incident, and University officials led by the Vice-Chancellor have had initial interaction with the parents of the deceased. The university career and counseling centre is currently offering counseling services to the deceased's roommate, immediate family members as well as fellows and employees at the hall," she added.

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