Albino tragedy: 23-year-old Nigerian student “commits suicide” over stigmatisation on “colourless” skin

By Olabisi Yakub

Ugochukwu Ekwe reportedly refused to follow his family to church on Sunday.

Reports quoted sources who said the 23-year-old had been expressing frustrations over the way people stigmatized him because his skin had no colour. He was an albino.

Albinism is an inherited condition present at birth, characterized by a reduced or lack of pigment that normally gives color to the skin, hair, and eyes.

“He has threatened to take his own life on several occasions, over the stigmatization,” a source said.

A source said he refused to take his meals on Saturday and declined attending church on Sunday.

His family went without him, and came back home to meet his lifeless body dangling from the end of a rope tied to the ceiling fan.

Sources said Ugochukwu may have finally given up due to the stigmatisation.

After the suspected suicide, policemen were seen at 311 Road, Festac Town, Lagos. They were the ones who took down the corpse.

Ugochukwu graduated from secondary school in 2009, reports say.

Albinism is an inherited condition present at birth, characterized by a reduced or lack of pigment that normally gives color to the skin, hair, and eyes.

At least one in every 20,000 people is born an albino.

Albinos are known to be ostracised and even killed because they are presumed to be cursed.

The persecutions of people with albinism take place mostly in Black African communities. It is widespread in East African.

A 2013 UN human rights report states that albinos are often regarded as “ghosts and not human beings who can be wiped off the global map.”

In June, 2015, a 19-year-old Ghanaian student gave up schooling over victimisation from his colleagues and community members.

“When I pass by the market on my way to school, I hear people saying that if it were in the past, I would have been used for sacrifice,” Yusif Fatau told local media.

“And I always hear them saying that so I was afraid for my life and I decided to stop going to the school. Now, I no longer go to school; I am staying home and my parents understand.”