Heartbreak As Teacher Reveals What Happened After Girl Declined Father’s ATM Request

A teacher has recounted a heartbreaking incident involving a secondary school student whose refusal to accompany her father to an ATM was followed by the man’s sudden death.

According to Bush Radio Academy, the teacher, who was working at a school in Ikorodu, Lagos, said the incident occurred in 2021 after the girl was brought to the school for admission into JSS 3.

The teacher reportedly discovered that the student struggled with basic reading and was unable to read a JSS 1-level textbook. Concerned about her academic ability, the teacher raised the issue with her superior and was subsequently asked to provide private lessons for the girl at home twice a week for ₦15,000.

During one of the lessons, the student’s father reportedly asked his daughter to accompany him to a nearby ATM so she could learn how to operate it. However, the girl allegedly refused, complaining that she was hungry and had a headache.

The teacher said both she and the girl’s father tried to persuade her to go with him, but she remained unwilling to leave the house.

According to the teacher, she even gave the girl ₦200 to buy something to eat, hoping it would encourage her to accompany her father, but the student reportedly declined.

The teacher later returned to the family home the following Thursday after noticing that the girl was absent from school. It was then that she reportedly learned that the girl’s father had died after going to the ATM alone that night.

The incident reportedly took an even more distressing turn when the man’s widow disclosed that about ₦450,000, which represented her business capital, was kept in her late husband’s bank account.

According to the account shared by the teacher, the deceased man’s younger brother allegedly took possession of the ATM card after his death and gave the widow only ₦20,000, claiming that the remaining money was required for burial arrangements.

The teacher further alleged that within two weeks, the man’s younger brother sold the family’s house and moved the widow and her daughter into a small room at the back of another property.

The teacher said the incident remained particularly painful to remember because of the sequence of events that preceded the man’s death, especially the girl’s refusal to accompany her father to the ATM on the night he died.

The account has sparked reflection on the importance of financial literacy, family preparedness and the vulnerability that can arise when access to a deceased person’s financial resources becomes complicated after an unexpected death.