A father of three children, Mr. Popoola Adepoju, 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.
Daily Sun gathered that Adepoju had on Tuesday morning sent his
children out of the house on Tuesday evening before he hanged himself.
The wife, who was not at home at the time her husband hanged 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 middled-aged man, who preferred anonymity and claimed that he
attended the same church – Foursquare Gospel Church, with the deceased
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.