Mr. Popoola Adepoju, A father of three children, 48, committed
suicide in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Tuesday over reasons connected to
means of livelihood and how to cater for his family.
The deceased, who was said to have retired
from the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), reportedly hanged
himself in his own house at No 17 Ayegbami Zone 7, Idi Ose along Akanran Road,
Ona Ara Local Government Area.
His lifeless body of the late father of one
boy and two girls was discovered on Tuesday evening from where it dangled from
a rope tied to a ceiling fan in his bedroom.
According to the Daily Sun, Mr. Adepoju had on Tuesday morning sent his
children out of the house on before he hanged himself.
The wife, who was not at home at the time her
husband hung himself, and the children returned home later in the evening to
discover that the breadwinner of the house had committed suicide.
The distraught wife reportedly told the
police that visited the house on Wednesday morning that her husband was
disengaged from work in Abeokuta two years ago, but had not been paid his
entitlements. He was said to have ventured to sales of bags of cement.
The deceased reportedly left a three-sheet
suicide note, which the bereaved family refused to surrender to the police but
the General Chairman of Idi Ose community, Chief Taiwo Alimi.
When Alimi led the community members and the
deceased’s relatives to the Akanran Police Division, he told the Divisional
Police Officer (DPO), Aliko Dankoli, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP),
that the bereaved family wanted to the police to release the corpse of of
Adepoju to them for burial. Dankoli reportedly gave the directive that the
family should go and bury the corpse as requested.
A landlord, who did not want his name in
print, told journalists: “Mr Adepoju was a very courageous and inspiring man.
He was always encouraging people to be persevering about the travails of life.
That is why we are so confounded about what could have informed his action to
commit suicide.
“He said on Monday that he wanted to sell his Honda car for
N250,000 but that someone who wanted to buy it was offering N150,000.
He said he wanted to sell the car so he could buy a small vehicle
which he would be using as cab to serve as a sustaining means of livelihood for
his family. He however said that the amount being offered was insufficient.
“He had a cement shop close by. He complained sometime that things
were no longer as they were before he was disengaged from work.
It was surprising when yesterday evening (Tuesday), we discovered
that this unfortunate incident had happened.”
A fellow Church member said,
“Adepoju was a devout Christian, pious and was talented. He was
always offering tangible suggestions whenever the Welfare Committee of the zone
met. What could have informed this action is astonishing to us.
“We were together at the early morning service at our church on
Monday. We usually have such service on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of every month.
When I saw him last on Monday evening after the evening service,
he never gave the premonition that he was going to commit suicide. It was the
last thing anybody around here could have imagined.”
The remains of Adepoju was later buried by
his relatives, community and the church members within the premises of his
house.
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