A widow, Nike Adekola, is yet to recover from the shock of losing her husband, Suleman, who reportedly committed suicide by drinking a local insecticide in the Ikotun area of Lagos State. It was gathered that Suleman, a tricycle operator, rode his tricycle to a football pitch on Abaranje Road in Ikotun, where he allegedly consumed the substance.
A few minutes after drinking the chemical, the 45-year-old was said to have died in his tricycle. Passersby, including residents, were said to have raised the alarm after seeing Suleman motionless in his vehicle. His friend, Mutiu Olayiwola said people alerted the police after the corpse was found.
He said, “We have been friends for over 28 years. I was at home when I received a call from his colleagues that he had committed suicide. How his colleagues got to know was that when people saw his body inside his tricycle parked on the football pitch, they went to the tricycle operators’ park to inform them that one of their colleagues had died.
“His colleagues rushed to the football pitch, saw his corpse in his tricycle and also confirmed that he was attached to their park. It is surprising that he committed suicide. He never complained that he was going through any challenges. In fact, one of our brothers saw him around 5pm on that day and they had a brief chat; he never complained of anything and that is why we are surprised.”
The deceased’s wife, Nike, while lamenting the circumstances surrounding the death, said her two children had stopped schooling due to the incident. She said, “Everything is still confusing to me. I saw his dead body. I also saw the bottle of the insecticide he consumed. He drank half of the content of the bottle, covered the remaining and dropped it. I don’t know why he took his life. We have two children who have stopped schooling after he died; people who have been paying us condolence visits are the ones giving us money to feed. We want Nigerians to come to our aid.”
The state Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Muyiwa Adejobi, said no mark of violence was found on the corpse. Adejobi said, “On January 18, 2021, around 11.31pm, one Abdullahi Ajayi, came to the station and reported that he received a call that one Suleman Adekola, 45, committed suicide by taking an insecticide while sitting in a tricycle near a football field along Abaranje Road in Ikotun. We visited the scene of the incident and observed no mark of violence on his body. Investigation is in progress.”
PUNCH