It has been alleged that the family of late Dr. Orji Allwell
Chiawolamoke, who jumped into the Lagoon on Sunday from the Third
Mainland Bridge while on his way back from church, yesterday chased
sympathisers and journalists away from their Abule-Ijesha home at Somolu
area of Lagos State.
This came as the Lagos University Teaching
Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, established a Suicide Prevention Service
Centre. About noon, Orji’s elder brother arrived and rushed into the
apartment.
A few minutes later, he ordered all the sympathisers, journalists and
church members to leave. Orji’s elder brother, who was visibly angry,
marched everybody to the gate and thereafter shut it. He warned
journalists, who besieged their house to leave as the death of their
brother was a complex one. He said: “We don’t want to see
family members, journalists and neighbours. We are
mourning our brother; we need privacy to sort out something. We didn’t
invite journalists.”
This was confirmed by an emergency response team member, who craved
anonymity. He said: “The last time I called the family, one of them
reigned courses on me until I informed him that I was not a journalist
but an emergency officer.”
It was observed that those who came to sympathise with Orji’s mother
didn’t stay long before taking their leave. Once they stepped out, the
gate would be slammed, to prevent people from entering. Efforts to get
the burial plans proved abortive as none of the members was ready to
comment on the issue. It was learnt that family members were angry with
the way the media carried their tragic story.
A source said that Orji’s relatives were angry that what was seen as the
most tragic incident in the family was blown out of proportion and
celebrated by the media. Meanwhile, emergency responders told our
correspondent that construction workers in a Japanese firm discovered
the body floating on the water.
One of them, who claimed to have received a text message via the Lagos
State Environment and Health Monitoring Unit (SEHMU), an agency
responsible for picking up of bodies on the road or disaster victims,
said the doctor’s body was found about 3:48 p.m. on Wednesday.
The source said: “Immediately the construction workers sighted the body,
they informed their Japanese bosses who then tied it to one of the
vessels to prevent it from floating to other area owing to tidal waves
movement. That was when they alerted the Marine Police, SEHMU, Lagos
State Waterways Authority (LASWA), Lagos State Emergency Management
Agency (LASEMA) and other emergency responders.
“When they arrived, they moved the body to the Marine Police
Headquarters at Awolowo Road, before the state Commissioner of Police,
Fatai Owoseni, was informed. The family members were invited and they
confirmed that the body was Orji’s.”
When the New Telegraph visited the hospital yesterday, there was no sign
of a condolence register opened in honour of the doctor. Also, no
photograph of Orji was hung inside or outside the hospital, to indicate
the tragic loss. Rather, normal hospital operations went on as usual.
Patients were in the patients’ waiting area.
One after the other, they were ushered into the doctor’s office for
consultation and treatment. The hospital environment was serene as
normal day-to-day activities went on throughout the two hours that our
correspondent spent there.
A doctor on duty, who did not give his name, referred the New Telegraph
to the headquarters of Mt. Sinai at 30, Falolu Street, Lawanson in
Lagos, where he said official comment from the hospital would be issued
from. When asked whether a condolence register has been opened in honour
of Orji at the headquarters, he said, “I have not been to the
headquarters in Falolu, hence I don’t know. You will find out if you get
there.
“At the appropriate time, Mt. Sinai, as a corporate organisation, would
make its plan known (in connection with the burial).” The doctor added
that the hospital was already in touch with Orji’s family. When told
that those at the headquarters might not know Orji since he did not work
there, the doctor said: “They employed him.”
However, efforts to get the comment of the Medical Director at the Mt.
Sinai Headquarters were resisted by a front desk officer. Responding to
the request from the New Telegraph to see the medical director, the
receptionist said: “He is not around.”
As it was at the Papa Ajao branch, no condolence register was opened for
Orji at the Mt. Sinai Headquarters at Falolu. When our correspondent
visited Ojuelegba District of the Deeper Life Church yesterday, the
pastor refrained from commenting on Orji’s suicide.
According to him, the authority to speak on such matters must be obtained from the General Overseer, Pastor W. F. Kumuyi.
However, a member of the church’s marriage committee, who identified
himself as Mr. Ibekwe, said Oji’s action was an embarrassment to all the
members of Deeper Life. Ibekwe said the mother of the deceased was a
pastor in the church.
As if responding to Orji’s death, LUTH has initiated what it called the
Suicide Research and Prevention Initiative and Staff Emotional Care
Services (SURPIN/SECS). The hospital’s Chief Medical Director (CMD),
Prof. Chris Bode, said the centre would collaborate with other relevant
government agencies to help save lives and prevent death by suicide both
locally and nationally.
Source; New Telegraph