Monkeypox victim commits suicide

A victim of the monkeypox viral disease quarantined at the Niger Delta University, Okolobiri, in Yenagpa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, has committed suicide.

The action heightened fear in the hospital environment, as some other victims reasoned that they were left with no hope despite assurance that the ailment was not terminal.

It was learnt that the victim was at the verge of been discharged before report filtered that he has committed suicide at the quarantined centre of the hospital.

The State Commissioner of Health, Prof. Ebitimitula Etebu, however, calmed the situation and doused the tension created by the victim that committed suicide; saying that he did not die as a result of the monkeypox viral infection, as claimed in some quarters.

Etebu averred that the victim was already discharged, only for doctors on duty to prepare his certificate but getting to the ward, they discovered that he had committed suicide.

He, however, noted that the deceased medical record did not suggest that he had suffered mental illness or going through any form of depression, stressing that it was a case of suicide and not in anyway connected to the monkeypox.

Etebu reassured other patients that the monkeypox ailment is not a terminal disease and that it is not life threatening sickness.

The fear heightened by the victim that committed suicide, it was learnt was doused by the comment on the commissioner, as it allays the palpable fear that engulfed others quarantined patients at the NDUTH, as well as their families and relatives.