Sick father of 5 commits suicide over financial problems

A 45-year-old, motorcycle rider, identified as Monday Onoja has hanged himself in the Ijebu-Igbo area of Ogun State on Tuesday.

It was learnt that the victim had always depended on his wife for food after involved in an accident which incapacitated him.

Nigerian Tribune gathered that the father of five had complained to his wife, Esther, about his plight the previous day before he committed suicide. Onoja reportedly woke up from sleep around 8:00 a.m., tied a rope on the ceiling fan and hanged himself. The incident occurred at victim’s residence on Ogunnaya Street, Ojowo, Ijebu-Igbo.

Esther was said to have been called in to see the dangling corpse of her husband when she was bathing one of her children. She explained that, “His leg got broken in an accident on May 3, 2016 while he was riding his commercial motorcycle. Since then, he could not walk and had to start using crutches, so, we had to depend on the little I could make from my trade.

“On Monday evening, he told me he was not going to eat rice and that he wanted to eat something else. Suddenly, he started saying he was going to kill himself. Of course, I begged him not to do that and even called one of his brothers to talk to him, but he said he would kill himself and threatened to sell his motorcycle and return to the village.

“I was bathing our child when one of them came to me and told me that he had hanged himself.”

Mr Kehinde, a resident, said that the deceased killed himself because he could no longer provide for his family. “He was depressed as a result of financial constraint and because he could not pay their rent. He could not do anything for his family,” he said.

A source said policemen from the Ijebu Igbo division visited the scene and took the statements of the victim’s wife and added that the corpse of the deceased could not been taken away by the police because the village’s tradition requires that whenever anyone died in that circumstances, there must be some rites which must be performed before the burial.

The Police Public Relations officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, confirmed the incident, adding that no foul play was suspected by the police.

“When Detectives visited the scene, they took pictures and all necessary arrangements have been made to move the body to the mortuary. No foul play suspected; while investigations are ongoing,” Adejobi added.