Nigerian student’s death raises mistreatment concerns

Badmus Ololade Rafiate (24), a Nigerian medical student in her last year at Ternopil State Medical University in Ukraine, died of poisoning on 16 January. While police are still investigating the death, they suspect it was a suicide. The tragedy has raised concerns about the possible mistreatment of foreign students in Ukrainian universities, as Rafiate’s friends say that the young woman was distraught because she was about to be expelled, writes Beatrice Hudson for Kyiv Post.

A day before she died, Rafiate failed a paediatrics exam. She reportedly performed well on the test, but was not given a passing grade due to previously failing a mock exam taken in preparation for the final bachelor of medicine and surgery exam. Failing the exam meant expulsion. According to reports, Rafiate tried to transfer to a different medical university to take the same exam, but the Ternopil university allegedly refused to provide the transcript she needed in order to transfer. Instead, she was reportedly told to “return to Nigeria”, apply for another student visa and restart her six-year medical degree.

Her death has again sparked allegations that Ukrainian universities take on foreign students to make money, but don’t provide them with adequate education and social support. There are 63,800 foreign students studying in Ukrainian universities in the 2019-20 academic year, including more than 3,500 from Nigeria. Most of the foreign students study in medical schools.
Full report on the Kyiv Post site