52-year- old drinks poison, jumps into Lagos river

Residents of Salvation Avenue in the Ajegunle, Ikorodu area of Lagos State have found the corpse of a man by the riverside.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the deceased, Bolaji Waheed, was found around 1.30pm at the bank of the Itowolo River with a bottle containing a substance suspected to be poison.

Our correspondent gathered that 52-year-old Waheed had been declared missing on Saturday after his family members could not find him.

It was learnt that Waheed’s dead body was found by the riverside on Monday, which caused confusion in the area.

A police source said Waheed was believed to have taken the poison and plunged into the river.

The matter was said to have been reported at the Owode Police Division, which took the corpse to a morgue.

A resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told our correspondent that a pastor in the area saw the corpse by the riverside and alerted the others.

She said, “Pastor Ajiboye, who has a church in our area, was the one who reported the matter at the police station.

“The deceased had been missing for two days. He left home on Saturday and failed to return, which caused apprehension in his household. His family members searched the whole area to no avail.

“The man did not leave any note behind. So, the family members thought he was picked up by unknown persons and they reported to the police. But we were shocked that it turned out that the man committed suicide. He was found at the bank of the river on Monday. He was foaming in the mouth.”

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the incident.

She said, “We are investigating a case of suicide. The man was found with a substance suspected to be poison Investigation is ongoing.”

Also, the Lagos State Police Command arrested four suspected cable thieves, who allegedly vandalised the MTN mast in the Ajangbadi area of the state.

Our correspondent gathered that the suspects had carted away 24 pieces of battery from the mast for sale, before they were intercepted by policemen from the Ajangbadi division.

It was learnt that the suspects had been transferred to the state Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Ikeja, for further investigation.

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, who confirmed the arrest, said the batteries had been recovered.

He said, “The suspects were arrested while vandalising the MTN mast. They had already removed 24 pieces of batteries from the mast. They are being interrogated and the batteries had been recovered.”