45-year-old man hangs self in Bayelsa

A middle-aged man said to have hailed from Enugu State has committed suicide in Etegwe-Epie, a suburb of Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.

The 45-year-old man, identified as Oliver Osieme, reportedly hung himself inside his room in the community.

Our correspondent, who visited the area, gathered that the deceased, a tipper truck driver, committed the act in an apartment owned by a lady he was cohabiting with, who also hails from Enugu State.

It was learnt that the victim, his partner and a teenage girl staying with them had morning devotion before the woman left for her business at the Tombia roundabout, while the teenager left for school.

Neighbours said that it was the teenage girl, who raised the alarm when she came back from school and met the apartment locked and discovered through the window the deceased dangling.

The neighbours also revealed that the partner said they never had any disagreement that could lead to the victim taking his life before she left the house, adding that they never heard them quarrel or fight since the man started living with the woman in the apartment.

The teenage girl, however, revealed that the deceased had not been on the road for some time owing to the fact that his tipper truck had been bad for a while.

A close relation, who did want to be named, told our correspondent that nobody was in the house when the incident happened.

He said, “Everybody went out, including the wife, but the wife’s younger sister came back from school and noticed the door to his room and the apartment locked; knowing that he was always at home since he lost his job as a driver due to the faulty truck, she kept on knocking and then went to the window and that was when she saw him hanging in his room.

“It’s a sad incident; nobody would have thought such a thing would have been planned by him; the police have taken his corpse away.”

When our correspondent visited the home on Tuesday morning, the entire community was in a mourning mood as residents were going into the apartment of the deceased to see the wife, while others gathered in groups to discuss the incident in hushed tones.

The Police Public Relations Officer in Bayelsa State, SP Asinim Butswat, who confirmed the incident, said the police were currently investigating the circumstances surrounding the man’s death.