A Senior Secondary School leaver who is a native of Baen in Khana local Government area of Rivers State was reported to have committed suicide after he lost huge amount of money he invested in a sports betting company over the weekend.
The deceased known as ‘Bobby’ twenty years of age, was said to have stolen his mother’s ATM card and withdrew large amount of money with the hope of re-paying it with interest if he won the bet he had invested in.
Community sources informed National Network that ‘Bobby’ was disappointed when results of the games he predicted were announced and he could not make the fifteen million naira he had hoped for.
Out of frustration, he allegedly hanged himself, our source revealed. Meanwhile an indigene of the community told our reporter that the incident threw the community into shock .The native explained that in line with the customs and traditions of the place, ‘Bobby was buried in an evil forest immediately after traditional rituals were carried out by the elders.
Our investigation revealed that the deceased graduated from Methodist Comprehensive High School Baen in 2017.
Some participants of sports betting who spoke to National Network explained that the betting gives they hope and aspiration of making money .The respondents revealed the activity is not exclusive to unemployed persons as many working class people also indulge in sports betting.
Checks by our reporter shows that most betting centres are crowed with able young men and women even during working hours. Investigations also indicate that betting activities are source of revenue to both state and Federal Government as the operators pay taxes to agencies saddled with responsibility of regulating their activities.
The betting activities is mainly on prediction of outcomes of games and putting specific amount of money to the prediction made with specific money to be cashed out by the participants if all the prediction turns out to be correct.
