A former roommate of Kelvin, who pleaded for anonymity, told SaharaReporters on Tuesday that they lived together during their first year at the university.
A 300-level Computer Science student of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai (IBBUL), identified only as Kelvin, has reportedly died following financial difficulties linked to betting and accommodation-related obligations.
A former roommate of Kelvin, who pleaded for anonymity, told SaharaReporters on Tuesday that they lived together during their first year at the university.
“Kelvin was my former roommate actually we stayed together during our first year. That was 2024 but last year he wanted to stay alone so I moved out. Once In a while we chat or meet in school.”
The source said Kelvin requested help with lodging payments because accommodation was expensive and difficult to secure.
The former roommate said he was in Minna when he received the news of Kelvin’s death.
He said he was told by people at Kelvin’s lodge that the landlord appointed him as caretaker and he collected rent payments from students.
“What I heard from his lodge people in “Justice lodge” at student Villa area of Lapai was that the landlord made him caretaker of the lodge and he was collecting payment on his behalf. I'm not sure of the amount but they said that he used it on a bet.”
The source said he found the news difficult to believe.
SaharaReporters gathered that Kelvin was residing in an off-campus lodge where he had been entrusted by the landlord with a caretaker role, which involved collecting house rent from students occupying the facility.
Other sources on campus told SaharaReporters that the situation worsened after Kelvin allegedly lost a large sum of money to betting, while also facing pressure to remit rent collected from occupants and repay other outstanding obligations.
“Before his death he last sent the sum of N100,000 into the account of the landlord assuring him that the network of a virtual bank he was operating is bad and that he will send the rest of the money to him as soon as the network is restored.”
“He was as of then having N570,000 before transferring the N100,000 in the account of the landlord,” a source said.
Student sources added that Kelvin’s challenges were not limited to betting losses or pressure from his landlord to remit rent, but also involved accumulated debts from monies he collected from other students he promised to secure accommodation for, as he was acting as a housing agent while schooling.
As at press time, the school management had not issued a statement about the incident, while SaharaReporters’ effort to obtain comment from the University Chief Security Officer (CSO), Abdulkadir Yerima, was unsuccessful as he was unavailable.
Messages to Wasiu Abiodun, Niger State Police Public Relations Officer, were also not responded to as at press time.