•Late Hammed
Another Nigerian Master’s degree graduate in Business and Management from the University of Plymouth, identified simply as Hammed, has died in the United Kingdom after his health “deteriorated suddenly from advanced cancer.”
Our correspondent learnt of his passing through a GoFundMe appeal created by Mariam Ajibola and Mohammed Chaanda for Piety Mosque, which initially sought support for Hammed’s medical care last week and was later updated to solicit funds for his burial, reports The PUNCH.
According to the organisers, Hammed, a 36-year-old from Lagos whose hometown is Ayete in Oyo State, travelled to the UK last September to begin a Master’s degree.
Despite a cancer diagnosis earlier this year, the organisers said he pushed through the physical and emotional strain to complete his programme.
The organisers described him as the last born in a family of four children, “the joyful heart of his home”, cheerful, friendly, and deeply committed to others.
His condition, the GoFundMe campaign stated, worsened rapidly in recent weeks.
The campaign also noted that efforts to fly him back to Nigeria so he could spend his final days with family were abandoned after doctors declared him medically unfit to travel.
With no possibility of repatriating his remains, the organisers appealed for support to give him a dignified burial in the UK.
“We are raising funds to give Hammed a dignified burial,” the appeal stated, adding that every contribution would help honour his life and ease the burden on his grieving family.
Although an estimated £5,000 was needed to cover a 50-year lease on a burial plot and the coffin, the GoFundMe account showed that the organisers had paused the donation as of yesterday after raising over £6,000.
Hammed’s death comes just days after the passing of another Nigerian in the UK, Chiowa Obeigbe, whose body was found in his Gloucester apartment five days after he was suspected to have died.
