By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A Director in Kogi State Teaching Service Commission (TSC) identified as Mr Edward Soje, has committed suicide after the state government failed to pay his salary for 11 months.
The 54-year man was said to have hanged himself after his wife welcomed a triplet, 17 years after being childless.
According to The Nation, his corpse was found dangling on a tree behind the mammy market at the Maigumeri Barracks, housing the Nigeria Army Command Record in Lokoja before police removed the body and deposited it at the mortuary.
The Grade Level 16 officer had welcomed a set of male triplets with his wife at a private hospital in Abuja and was reportedly finding it had to meet up with his financial obligations.
He was said to have sold his car and a yet-to-be completed three-bedroom bungalow at the Otokiti area of Lokoja at a give-away price of N1.5 million in April, to meet pressing family needs.
After his wife gave birth to the children on October 7, 2017, Mr Soje, who hailed from Ogori town in Ogori-Magongo local government of Kogi, went to his bank to withdraw the N30,000 balance in his account, and thereafter notified the bank in writing, of his decision to close the account.
He subsequently returned to the hospital in Abuja, and handed over the N30,000 to the wife, where his family was joined by two clergymen and some relatives for a brief naming ceremony of the triplets at the hospital.
The deceased later left the hospital with the excuse that he wanted to pick some things from the wife’s apartment in Abuja with a promise to come back quickly.
However, he was not seen, which made his family to begin to search for his whereabouts.
Those who went to his residence in Lokoja found his mobile phone placed on a suicide note, which read, “Psalm 121:3: God will not suffer your foot to be moved: He that keepeth you will not slumber. Amen. You and the three boys, God Almighty keep you and make you prosperous. Amen. I love you.”
Kogi State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr William Aya, an ASP, who confirmed the incident, said that the dangling body of Mr Soje was found on a tree behind the barracks, around 5.55 pm on October 16.
He said the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of Area D Division received information about the incident from the military intelligence office in the barracks.
“Police moved to the scene and removed the corpse to the morgue of the Federal Medical Centre in Lokoja. Investigation is on-going,” the police spokesman said.
Adedapo Adesanya